Airtel shares interconnect data with TRAI, hopes for objective resolution on POI penalty

TRAI had found Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular violating licensing conditions and recommended a Rs 3050 crore fine on the three telcos

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Bharti Airtel has given all data regarding the PoIs to TRAI and hopes that the issue will soon be resolved objectively. A fine of Rs. 1050 crore on Airtel was recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for refusing Point of Interconnection to new entrant Reliance Jio. The company reiterated its stand that its alleged denial of PoIs (Points of Interconnection) to Reliance Jio is a non issue as the telecom major has done “everything humanly possible” to provide adequate PoIs to its rival.

Speaking to PTI, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel stated, "We have done everything we could have humanly done...The amount of augmentation runs into thousands of points of interconnect in five weeks...we have offered a staggering pace of augmentation...to the new entrant, and the quantity of augmentation we have done is 2.5 times that of any other player with equivalent set of customers."

In October 2016, Relaince Jio had accused its rivals Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India of ignoring TRAI regulations, in refusing to provide enough Points of Interconnection. Jio had claimed that due to congestion at the PoIs the company faced as many as 10 crore call failures every day. Subsequently TRAI found the three company’s guilty of violating licence conditions and Quality of Service (QoS) rules and wrote to the Department of Telecom recommending a fine of Rs 1050 crore each on Vodafone India and Bharti Airtel and Rs 950 crore on Idea Cellular.

Airtel had in turn accused Jio of unpreparedness, Vittal stated, "Both parties need to be ready...We have had delays on the other side in terms of their own links of transmission into our switching centres...all that has led to what today is... a non issue."