Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm are at loggerheads over the Mukesh Ambani-led operator’s recent move to offer numerous live TV channels with its JioFiber home broadband service. Separately, India’s largest DTH operator, Tata Play (formerly Tata Sky) has hit out at both Jio and Airtel for bundling live TV channels and over-the-top (OTT) apps with their respective broadband offers, calling them clear instances of predatory pricing.
India’s second largest telco, Airtel, which also has home broadband and direct-to-home (DTH) businesses, in late March urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to block the recently launched JioFiber Backup plans. Airtel alleged Jio’s plans were predatory, hurt consumer interests, hindered competition and disturbed the level playing field in the DTH digital TV space.
Lucrative Rebate Vs Predatory PriceTelecom market leader Jio, in a counter letter to Trai earlier this month, called on the regulator to warn Airtel not to file frivolous complaints. Jio offers home broadband services, which also provide access to content apps through a set top box.
“Offering 400-550 live TV channels as part of a broadband offering well below market cost with a view to reduce competition is a clear case of predatory pricing and is in contravention of the TTO-1999 and requires immediate attention of the authority,” Airtel had written in its letter to Trai.
The telecom arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has dismissed Airtel’s allegations. “This complaint is a deliberate, malicious attempt by Airtel to defame Reliance Jio’s consumer-friendly tariffs in order to protect its narrow interests,” Jio wrote in its April 6 letter to the regulator.
Meanwhile, in a late March letter, Tata Play sought Trai’s urgent intervention to thwartthe latest offers by Jio and Airtel. “Trai is the regulatory body for telecom, broadband and broadcasting industry, and we urge that it intervenes and puts a stop to these predatory, capital-destructive practices in the interest of the broadcast industry,” Tata Play managing director Harit Nagpal wrote in the letter, seen by ET.
ET has also seen copies of the Jio and Airtel letters to the regulator. Nagpal added that, alternatively, DTH players should have the freedom to negotiate prices with broadcasters and be allowed to price the channels based on market forces. Tata Play cited the recent JioFiber and Airtel Black plans that offer a mix of live TV channels and OTT apps. “This move of predatory pricing by telecom and broadband operators is damaging and detrimental to the DTH business, which is already saddled with multiple regulatory restrictions and is unable to negotiate with broadcasters and give such lucrative discounts to its subscribers,” Nagpal said.
The sparring comes as India’s broadband speeds and fixed-line (home broadband) penetration improve with Airtel, Jio and Tata Play fighting it out for a higher share of customer market and wallet share, say experts.
“Airtel’s sole grouse is that JioFiber is offering reasonable tariffs to customers… all its unsubstantiated claims of predation, non-level playing field, non-compliance with TTO (Telecom Tariff Order-1999) and NTO (New Tariff Order) are just woven around this singular theme, and this complaint (to Trai) should be dismissed simply on the ground of being a frivolous attempt to protect its own narrow interests,” Jio said.
History of RivalrySince Jio’s disruptive entry into the telecoms sector in September 2016, the Reliance unit and Airtel have battled over regulatory issues. Both telcos were at the centre of a tussle over Trai’s predatory pricing regulation some five years ago.
Both carriers were also at the centre of other big-ticket telecom corporate battles on issues such as pricing of services, interconnection usage charges and points of interconnection between then newcomer Jio and incumbents such as Airtel, with many of the issues going to court.
Lately, the sparring between Jio and Airtel had eased, especially with third telco Vodafone Idea (Vi) reduced to a weak position financially due to its inability to compete effectively with its two stronger rivals in the 4G space.
Jio and Airtel are now rapidly rolling out 5G networks across India, even as they target revenue and customer market share gains at Vi’s expense.
Airtel had said the JioFiber Backup Plans — offering a mix of unlimited data, 400-550 live TV channels, up to 16 OTT services, free voice and a set top box (STB) at various monthly price-points between Rs 198 and Rs 1,499 — were harmful to consumer interests and would hurt viability of the DTH and cable sectors, besides being discriminating against DTH subscribers. Users would end up paying a higher fee for the same content due to the existing NTO regulation.
Airtel also warned that introduction of such plans by Jio would make it difficult for DTH operators to survive and compete.
Dismissing the allegations, Jio informed the regulator that the JioFiber Backup tariff plans are an attempt to connect all consumers to fibre-optic technology. The product offering is limited to connectivity services and does not directly include any subscription to OTT applications or any broadcasting services, it said.
