Telecom association says Reliance Jio can't delete competition

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Thursday said Reliance Jio's had come up with a compelling offer which is good for consumers, but its tariffs cannot be termed as a killer that will do away with competition.

COAI which represents telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India said competing operators are already matching the price points in most plans the new entrant announced Thursday.

COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews, who has locked horns with Reliance Jio over interconnect issues, told Mail Today that Reliance Jio's challenge will be to maintain quality of service on its network once the traffic volumes go up. Consumers will not pay low prices for low quality, he added.

"The initial advantage will be for Reliance Industries, given the empty network... but over time, we will have to see if that can be sustained," he added.

Incidentally, Reliance Jio is also part of the cellular association.