Jio’s no more free, Airtel & Vodafone-Idea to make a call

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ With Reliance Jio announcing 6 paise per minute charge for voice calls to rival networks, Vodafone Idea on Wednesday termed the announcement “an action of undue haste” and Airtel termed the Mukesh Ambani-owned company’s move a forced tactics to reduce interconnection charges.

“The announcement by one of the telecom service providers today to charge for calls made to other service providers to cover the termination charge of IUC is not only an action of undue haste, but it also doesn’t bring out the fact that interconnect is a settlement between operators and not a consumer pricing matter.

“In our view, its TRAI’s call for a consultation on IUC keeping in mind the continuing asymmetry in traffic and in line with its earlier stated position on the matter”, Vodafone Idea said in a statement. Reliance Jio’s announcement follows its recent unilateral action of reducing ringing time.