Just before Diwali, when the telecom market is high, Bharti Airtel shut the door to two other networks- Aircel and Reliance Communications. The company says that the two service providers have been flooding its network by sending ‘free spam messages’. But the accused service providers deny the allegations.
Bharti Airtel executive said, “Aircel and RCom are sending free SMS to our networks, which, in turn, is impacting the quality of service on our network and, therefore, the quality of service to our own customers,” reports TOI.
On the other hand, RCom and Aircel have denied any such allegation, saying that Airtel was trying to force them to pay more for SMS termination charges just before Diwali. An RCom executive said, “The timing of this step on the eve of Diwali reflects Bharti’s blatant disregard for the interests of millions of customers and is another instance of abuse of market position by Bharti.”
The companies are planning to take their dispute to the court, by stating that Aircel was asked to sign a bilateral interconnect agreement by Bharti Airtel. The agreement states that 10 paise per SMS will be charged to a non-Airtel customer. But Aircel is resisting it as it will lead in the rise of costs for their customers.