Jio sets stage for another fight over IUC, this time over international calls

NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio Infocomm has called upon the telecom regulator to slash international call termination rates to 6 paise a minute, and then to zero, changing its stance and breaking ranks with larger rivals who want the fee to be increased to Re 1 from 53 paise at present, setting the stage for another bitter battle between the two sides. 

At stake is roughly Rs 5,000 crore of revenue from incoming international calls, most of which are terminated on the networks of the Big .. 

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular — who control over 60 per cent of India's wireless user base, and thus could again take a hit by any move to lower or scrap the international termination rate (ITR). This rate is paid by the foreign carrier, on which the call originates, to the local operator. 

Jio has called for a steep reduction in ITR because of the growing popularity of OTT calls (WhatsApp calls, FaceTime audio, etc), which are free. A drop in ITR will reduce the cost of calls to India, although they will still not be as cheap as calls made over OTT (over-the-top) apps. 

In addition, Jio feels ITR should be the same as the local interconnect usage charge (IUC), which has been reduced to 6 paise from October 1. 

The new entrant's views on the fee paid by foreign carriers for international calls terminating in India — which it shared in a workshop held by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Monday — appeared to have taken the larger operators by surprise. 

The new entrant's views on the fee paid by foreign carriers for international calls terminating in India — which it shared in a workshop held by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Monday — appeared to have taken the larger operators by surprise.

Jio and the three older telcos — currently embroiled in a brutal price war — were recently engaged in a bitter spat over local IUC, with the new entrant demanding a reduction and the others seeking a sharp increase. After weeks of accusations and counter-accusations and lobbying by both sides, Trai decided to lower the rate to 6 paise a minute from 14 paise. Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have challenged the decision in court. 

"There is no consensus (on ITR), every company has its own viewpoint... some have advocated altogether abolition of international settlement charges, some have asked for increase manifold," Trai chairman RS Sharma said after the three-hour workshop ended. 

Besides Jio, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices also sought scrapping of the international termination charge. The companies did not respond to queries seeking comment. 

"As a regulator, we have to harmonise all the conflicting situations and take what we think is the most appropriate decision which takes into account the interests of consumer and industry, and growth of the industry and all factors that are part of our mandate," he said, adding that the regulation will be issued within the next couple of months. 

Sharma said some of the carriers had argued that a high international termination charge and 6 paise local termination charge could lead to creation of illegal solutions, where an international call is masqueraded as a domestic call. "So, if the arbitrage is high, it will create the problem," he said. 

COAI's Mathews said the termination charge paid by Indian operators is around Rs 3.50 a minute for outgoing international calls compared with 53 paise received by them for incoming international calls, a major factor in the 20:1imbalance between incoming and outgoing international calls. 

He added that the main reason for Jio's change in stance "appears to be that most of these calls a ..