The Reliance Jio vs Airtel war over points of interconnectedness is slowly turning nasty, with both parties laying the blame on each other.
Reliance claims Airtel is deliberately blocking MNP requests to switch over to the Jio network and is squarely responsible for the two crore call failures between the Airtel and Jio network.
Airtel on the other hand has hit back at Jio claiming these statements are baseless and rhetorical to cover up technical issues in their own networks.
Here is a statement made by Reliance Jio regarding this issue:
Over two crore call failures between Airtel and Jio
The statements from Airtel are misleading and unfortunate in the context of the severe Quality of Service issues being faced by the Indian customers. While there are over two crore call failures every day between the two networks, there are no incidents of call failures within the Jio network. We encourage all customers to make Jio to Jio calls to experience HD quality voice services without any disruptions whatsoever.
We also invite independent third parties such as TERM (DOT) to inspect and confirm that there are zero call failures on Jio network. Infact Jio customers should encourage the receiving party to switch to the Jio network at the earliest so that they do not suffer due to such anti-competitive practices being followed by the incumbent operators.
Jio, being the aggrieved party as everyone is well aware, is doing its best to work with all the other operators to resolve this issue at the earliest. There is no question of any delay, not even of a few hours, in taking any steps at Jio's end.
Airtel blocking MNP requests: Jio
On MNP, there is no right that any operator has to block MNP requests. Many of the customers have already been denied this facility without cause. We speak on behalf of customers when requesting that such porting requests should be honoured.
A deliberate act by Airtel, says Jio
It cannot be coincidental that all requests made for MNP to port to Jio network have been rejected by Airtel on unsubstantiated grounds and not even one MNP request has been approved, when Airtel claims that it ports-out thousands of customers every day across operators. It clearly establishes that this is being done deliberately when requests come to port to Jio network.
Airtel's response
Airtel claims Jio is just dilly dallying and making these statements to cover up technical faults in their own network.
Here is Airtel's reply to Reliance Jio's accusations:
Categorical denial
Bharti Airtel categorically denies the rhetorical statements made by Reliance Jio with regard to the release of additional PoIs from Airtel to Jio and MNP requests.
We have released the required PoI's: Airtel
Following the bilateral discussions on September 13, 2016, Airtel agreed to release the additional PoIs to Jio on the same day itself and raised the demand notes on September 14, 2016. With the latest augmentation, the total number of PoIs provided will become three times the present number of PoIs. This capacity will be sufficient to serve over 15 million customers, which is much more than their present subscriber base and their demand for 10 million projected customers. Airtel has ensured that there are no capacity constraints from its end. In fact, Airtel has been providing PoIs to Jio, well ahead of the commencement of its commercial operations.
The additional PoIs now need to be physically connected and tested by both parties. We have already requested Jio's cooperation in this regard. Airtel's network teams across circles are ready and waiting for Jio to commence the testing.
Jio is covering up technical issues in their own network, says Airtel
However, it is Jio that seems to be dilly-dallying on the issue and not cooperating deliberately. It appears that the constant rhetoric may be a ploy by Jio to cover up some technical issues in their own network, which is causing call failures, by constantly blaming other operators. In addition, call drops or the lack of VoLTE stabilization should not be hidden behind the issue of POIs, which are being augmented at regular and quick intervals.
All MNP requests are being processed: Airtel
On the issue of MNP, Airtel has already stated that it is processing all requests as per guidelines. Airtel ports-in and ports-out thousands of customers every day from across operators, and the allegation of blocking 69 odd port out requests from Jio sounds rather flimsy.
Where do you side on this issue? Do you think this kind of public blaming is not healthy and both companies should not air their dirty laundry in public? Who is really to blame? Tell us in the comments
