JIO, AIRTEL AND VODAFONE UNITE “TOGETHER” FOR THIS REASON

In recent times, there is a competition between potential telecom operators in India in terms of sustaining in the telecom market. The data revolution brought by Ambani’s Reliance Digital has multiplied the competition with other telecom operators. However, the three major telecom operators, Jio, Airtel and Vodafone have united together to oppose Indian Railways.

According to Gadgets Now, the three telecom operators jointly oppose the allocation of premium 700 MHZ spectrum to Indian Railways. The decision was taken owing to the commercial value involved in the potential of 4g and 5g offerings. The 700 MHZ is allocated for commercial services (wifi and internet services) provided to the passengers.

Reliance Jio has said that in order to offer commercial services the Railways should get authorization under the unified License Authorization and without any such authorization, it should not be permitted to provide commercial services like wifi, voice and video communication. Vodafone also agreed with the terms of Jio in this concern.

Vodafone said that the Indian Railways may use the spectrum for their internal services such as passenger safety, train positioning and security purposes. However, utilizing 700 MHz for commercial purposes should not be made available as it is reserved for licensed telecom operators through a due auction process. Both Jio and Vodafone suggested a bandwidth of 450-470 MHZ may be suitable for Railways internal services.

Bharti Airtel also joined the other two telecom operators to stand against the Indian Railways saying the allocation of such huge spectrum will result in “unfair competition and direct substitute”.