Bharti Airtel says interconnect capacity for 75 million customers provided to Reliance Jio

Following the recent penalty recommended by the telecom regulator, Bharti Airtel on Thursday provided over 7,000 additional Points of Interconnect (PoIs) to Reliance Jio, taking the total number of PoIs provided till date to over 17,000, a capacity sufficient to serve over 75 million customers.

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TRAI recently suggested imposition of Rs. 1,050 crores penalty on Bharti Airtel over interconnect issue with Reliance Jio. The telco subsequently said that there was confusion and it was hoping of objective outcome.

“With the latest augmentation, Airtel has now provided Jio the capacity to cater to 75 million customers. This is well ahead of the time-frame, since there are currently only 25 million customers making calls to the Airtel network from Jio,” the telco said.

In a statement, Airtel said that the new PoIs will ensure that the quality of service (QoS) is maintained and the customers are not inconvenienced. It also claimed that it has been providing PoIs to Jio, even before the commencement of Jio’s commercial operations.

Also Read: Reliance Jio reacts to Airtel’s claim of delay in operationalization of POIs causing call drops

India’s top telecom operator however reiterated its concerns over asymmetry of calls terminating on the Airtel network from Jio due to free services being offered by Jio. It urged the Trai to examine the “incredible” asymmetry of calls between the two networks, and said that this continued asymmetry will degrade the customer experience for Airtel customers over time and melt down networks.

Following the commercial launch of services by Jio on September 5, 2016, Airtel claimed that it has released PoIs at “a staggering pace”, well ahead of its bilateral and regulatory obligations.

The telco further claimed that the number of PoIs provided by Airtel to Jio is more than 2.5 times the number provided to an existing operator with a comparable subscriber base.