In a move interesting both for its content as well as the alacrity with which it happened, soon after RIL’s Mukesh Ambani lashed out at incumbent telecom operators of blocking its users’ calls, Airtel issued a quick, and terse statement welcoming Jio’s entry to the digital world.
“We welcome Reliance Jio’s entry to the digital world and wish them the very best. We also welcome Jio’s call to leading operators to work together,” Airtel said in a press statement.
“As a responsible operator we will fulfill all our regulatory obligations as we have always done. Over the last 20 years, Airtel has been contributing towards building a digitally enabled India and remains fully committed to and take leadership in supporting the Government’s Digital India vision. We will continue to innovate and deliver best-in-class products and services to our customers,” Airtel, the current No 1 Indian operator, added.
Meanwhile, India’s No 2 telecom operator, Vodafone also issued a statement.
“We have always offered great value to our customers, backed by excellent customer service, a nationwide presence, and Vodafone SuperNet – our best network ever. We will continue to do so for our hundreds of million customers across the country,” Vodafone said.
Earlier today, while announcing Reliance Jio’s tariffs, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani slammed incumbent operators for not offering point of interconnect to its users.
“In the last week Jio customers faced 500 crore call drops, but I want to assure we have the highest quality and best voice network and you will experience voice like never before,” Mukesh Ambani said.
He also requested telecom operators to allow mobile portability so that those who want can migrate to Reliance Jio’s services, citing that the incumbents have legal obligation.
Reliance Jio has earlier today shaken up the market by announcing free lifetime voice calls and unlimited night-time data. Jio is also offering its services for free as a welcome offer till December 15.
Other telecom operators including Airtel, before this announcement, have slashed their tariffs vigorously to keep their flock intact. But with Jio’s aggressive pricing, now they have to do much more.
Rest assured, whatever happens it will be for the good of consumers.