Uncertain over IUC regime, Jio to charge for calls to other networks

This will effectively end one of Jio key disruptive strategies – free voice call

Reliance Jio on Wednesday said it would charge 6 paise per minute for voice calls made by customer to other networks such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea after indications that call connect charges may not end on December 31 as proposed earlier.

Current customers when they recharge as well those joining the Jio network from Thursday will have to top up with Rs 10 to Rs 100 to pay for interconnect usage charge (IUC). They will, however, get an equivalent amount of free data — 1 GB to 10 GB. “Jio will provide additional data entitlement of equivalent value based on IUC top-up voucher consumption. This will ensure no increase in tariff for customers,” Jio said.

This will effectively end one of Reliance Jio key disruptive strategies — free voice call. But, it will also help the telco save Rs 650 crore in the coming quarter. It had paid Rs 851 crore to Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL last quarter as IUC. Jio also said this new expense for customers would be a temporary one till telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) decides to abolish the IUC regime.

Sources said Jio was trying to send a message to the regulator — if the IUC regime continues it would not bear the costs. “It is our shareholders’ money that it being paid out. This is purely a regulatory charge that will be offloaded to the customer,” said the source….

Bad news for Jio users as calls to rival networks won’t be free anymore

After Trai consultation paper on review of IUC regime timeline, Reliance Jio has decided to charge users 6 paise a minute for calls to rival networks

Forced by regulatory uncertainty over review of sunset clause for call termination charges, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio on Wednesday announced it will charge customers 6 paise per minute for voice calls made to rival phone networks, but will compensate them by giving free data of equal value.

In a statement, Reliance Jio said the 6 paisa charge will remain in place till the time telecom operators are required to pay rivals for mobile phone calls made by their users to other operators’ network. These charges are not applicable on calls made by Jio users to other Jio phones and to landline phones and calls made using WhatsApp, FaceTime and other such platforms. Incoming calls from all networks will continue to be free.

Telecom regulator TRAI in 2017 had slashed the so-called interconnect usage charge (IUC) to 6 paise per minute from 14 paise and had said this regime will end by January 2020. But it has now floated a consultation paper to review whether the regime timeline needs to be extended.

Since voice calls on Jio network are free, the company had to bear the Rs 13,500 crore payment made to rivals such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. To recover the losses created by the TRAI move, the company has decided to charge customers 6 paise per minute for every call they make to a rival’s network.

Why Mukesh Ambani’s ‘cautious actions’ could be a bad sign for the economy

Why is Ambani hitting the brakes on a seven-year, $100 billion investment spree across refining, petrochemicals, telecom and retail?

Does Mukesh Ambani see dark clouds gathering on the horizon? From his message to shareholders, it doesn’t look like India’s richest tycoon is worried. But his actions may reveal more than his words.

At Monday’s annual general meeting, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd was brimming with optimism. Not only did he endorse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of bumping up annual GDP by 80% in five years to $5 trillion, he even forecast a $10 trillion Indian economy by 2030. It’s not only possible but “inevitable,” he said.

Something doesn’t add up. If the outlook is so rosy, why is Ambani hitting the brakes on a seven-year, $100 billion investment spree across refining, petrochemicals, telecom and retail? While a breather after such frenzied activity may be understandable, why does he want Reliance to be a zero-net-debt company in 18 months? What will it mean for the more than 100 banks and financial institutions around the world that provide India’s largest company and its subsidiaries with billions of dollars – and yen, and rupees – in financing and refinancing? Above all, what will Reliance’s deleveraging mean for India?

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio gets RCom into trouble; DoT rejects spectrum deal

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm had agreed to buy spectrum, towers and other wireless infrastructure of his younger brother

BS: In a major blow for Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communication, the department of telecommunication (DoT) on Tuesday refused to give a clearance to RCom-Reliance Jio Infocomm deal. As part of debt reduction efforts, Anil Ambani-led RCom had, in December 2017, signed a Rs 250-billion deal with elder brother Mukesh Ambani‘s Reliance Jio. The deal included the sale of assets mortgaged with different banks to avoid insolvency proceedings. The company expected to raise Rs 180 billion from sales of its wireless assets to RJio and real estate assets to Canada’s Brookfield, and pare some of its Rs 460-billion debt.

Earlier, the apex court had asked RCom to furnish a corporate guarantee of Rs 14 billion within 2 days, following which DoT had to give it a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the RCom-RJio spectrum sale deal within 7 days. All went as planned. RCom furnished the guarantee amount and the DoT agreed to give RCom the green signal.

Big brother’s letter gets Anil into trouble

On Friday, DoT had told the Supreme Court that it was ready to provide the company a NOC for spectrum and asset sale to Jio. However, by Tuesday, the DoT reversed its stand following Jio’s letter wherein it sought assurances from the government that it won’t be held liable for RCom’s past dues related to airwaves, reports Economic Times.

In a letter to the DoT, RJio stated that although RCom has offered a corporate guarantee of Rs 14 billion towards settling its dues, the licence conditions stipulate that it should also give a bank guarantee.Jio’s conditions, mentioned in the letter to the government, are not in accordance with spectrum trading norms, according to which, the buyer is liable for dues that haven’t been recovered from the seller.

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