Reliance Jio has shot off a strongly-worded letter to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), blasting the telecom lobby for writing a letter to the government regarding an "alleged unprecedented" crisis in the sector and acting in the sole interests of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea.

COAI on Tuesday urged a newly formed panel of secretaries to prescribe immediate relief measures to address the Supreme Court ruling on the so-called adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue first, given the 'urgency of the situation'.

Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-idea have sparred with the Department of Telecom (DoT) over the definition of AGR, a percentage of which they pay as usage charges for spectrum or airwaves and as licence fees.

Jio has argued in its October 30 letter to COAI director general Rajan Mathew, a copy of which CNBCTV18.com has reviewed, that two operators (read Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea) failing will not have any bearing on the sector and has asked COAI to stop blaming the Supreme Court's order on AGR and stop forum shopping for relief.

The government has formed a panel of secretaries to examine the issue of financial stress gnawing at the telecom sector and suggest possible relief measures,

In its letter, Jio has strongly objected to COAI for sending a missive to the telecom ministry without waiting for its comments. Jio has termed this as a "breach of trust".

Jio's reply calls COAI's letter "prejudiced with one-sided thought process". It also goes on to call COAI's actions proof of the fact that they are "not an industry body but a mouthpiece for two service providers".

This was again a reference to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea.

The company urged COAI to share with the telecom ministry with a follow-up letter on its divergent views on the sector, including the so-called financial stress and the fact that there exists vibrant competition, presence of PSUs ( MTNL and BSNL) as well as no restrictions on the entry of new players.

Airtel and Vodafone-Jio have been shedding crocodile tears by claiming financial stress for long and have not shown an inclination to modernise their networks, according to Jio. In contrast, Jio promoters have invested Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the sector, it said.

Jio has also called COAI's tone of the letter to DoT as "threatening and blackmailing".

Disclosure:

Reliance Industries, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

First Published:Oct 30, 2019 6:06 PM IST