Predatory pricing is once again at the forefront of a battle in the telecom sector.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are engaging in exploitative pricing practices with their respective limitless 5G plans, according to a complaint made by Vodafone Idea (VI) to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The struggling telecom company has urged TRAI to take action against its larger competitors, claiming that the two cannot provide 5G for free and for an unlimited period of time as substantial market players (SMP), which would increase user churn at cash-based services. strapped VI according to officials informed of the situation.
Jio and Airtel were contacted by TRAI for comments, and both companies denied VI's claims. They have claimed in their responses that they cannot be criticised for charging predatory rates because 5G has a relatively tiny user base right now because the network rollout is still ongoing, according to officials.
The two telcos further contended that since 5G is provided as part of 4G packs and is priced accordingly, they are not providing anything for free. Since, delivering 1GB of 5G data costs substantially less than it does for 4G.