Devesh
Core Member
As top telecom companiesclamour for a cut in licence fee, spectrum usage charge (SUC) and Universal Service Obligation Fund levy to ease financial stress in the telecom sector, the issue ofinterconnect charges (IUC) has once again emerged as a potential flashpoint between top telcos.
While Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and IdeaCellular are asking for IUC to be raised, new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm is asking it to be scrapped. The IUC is a fee that a telco pays another player on whose network a call terminates, and is at 14 paise a minute, reckoned to be nearly half of an incumbent carrier’s cost of a call.
Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani, wants it abolished as it has banked on free offers to attract its 100 million-plus customers since its entry last September. During last week’s meeting between the sector regulator and telecom carriers, Jio is believed to have reaffirmed its position on IUC by calling it a subsidy for incumbent carriers.
Reliance Jio: Airtel, Vodafone and Idea seek higher IUC, Jio wants it scrapped - The Economic Times
While Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and IdeaCellular are asking for IUC to be raised, new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm is asking it to be scrapped. The IUC is a fee that a telco pays another player on whose network a call terminates, and is at 14 paise a minute, reckoned to be nearly half of an incumbent carrier’s cost of a call.
Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani, wants it abolished as it has banked on free offers to attract its 100 million-plus customers since its entry last September. During last week’s meeting between the sector regulator and telecom carriers, Jio is believed to have reaffirmed its position on IUC by calling it a subsidy for incumbent carriers.
Reliance Jio: Airtel, Vodafone and Idea seek higher IUC, Jio wants it scrapped - The Economic Times