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<\/p>\nReliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) has written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) stating that a recent complaint against it by Bharti Airtel is a deliberate, malicious attempt at defaming RJIL’s consumer-friendly tariff.<\/p>\n
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RJIL has also asked the regulator to warn Airtel against ‘making such frivolous complaints in the future’.<\/p>\n
The move is in response to Airtel recently requesting Trai to bring content aired through broadband under the regulatory fold and keep a check against discriminatory bundling tactics.<\/p>\n
The company had recently approached Trai for a one service-one rate system that prohibits differential pricing by telecommunication (telecom) operators for content on their applications (apps) if the same content is available on direct-to-home and cable television (TV) channels, the Financial Express<\/em> reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Subsequently, Trai sought parawise comments from Reliance Jio on the complaint on alleged predatory offers of live TV channels with broadband plans by RJIL.<\/p>\n “A close reading of the complaint letter would establish that Airtel’s sole grouse is that JioFiber is offering reasonable tariffs to customers,” Reliance Jio said in the latest letter — a copy of which has been reviewed by Business Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n “Evidently, all its unsubstantiated claims of predation, non-level playing field, non-compliance with the Telecom Tariff Order (TTO) and the New Tariff Order (NTO) are just woven around this singular theme.<\/p>\n “And this complaint should be dismissed simply on the grounds of being a frivolous attempt at protecting its own interests,” the letter stressed.<\/p>\n TTO periodically issued by Trai dictates the rules, reporting procedures, and scope of the telecom tariff.<\/p>\n Alternatively, Trai’s NTO reinstated the Rs 19 minimum recharge price cap on TV channel inclusion in an offered bouquet of channels by the broadcaster.<\/p>\n Controversial Indian Premier Leage (IPL) telecast<\/strong><\/p>\n The trigger for the latest tussle had been the free telecast of IPL matches by Reliance Jio on its JioCinema app.<\/p>\n JioCinema owns the digital rights of IPL matches; Disney Star has the broadcasting rights.<\/p>\n JioCinema viewers can watch IPL matches gratis. However, Disney Star has to charge viewers as they have to follow Trai’s order of a fixed channel rate of Rs 19.<\/p>\n An entry-level cable TV bouquet costs about Rs 325 per month — which may or may not have Disney Star.<\/p>\n However, Reliance Jio has now countered this by saying that the JioFiber back-up tariff is an “earnest attempt by RJIL to connect all consumers to fibre optics technology to deliver best-in-class connectivity services”.<\/p>\n The JioFiber back-up plan is a 10 megabits per second fibre to the x (FTTx, or fibre in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fibre to provide all or part of the local loop used for last-mile telecommunications) plan at a monthly rental of Rs 198 (plus taxes).<\/p>\n “This plan is available only on a five-month advance rental at one go.<\/p>\n “Further, subscribers have the option to add the add-on packs of Rs 100 or Rs 200 per month provided by Jio Platforms (JPL) to get access to up to 14 over-the-top apps, along with Jio’s OTT apps provided by JPL,” it said in the letter.<\/p>\n Based on this argument, RJIL submitted its product offering is limited to connectivity services and it does not include subscriptions to OTT apps or any broadcasting service.<\/p>\n