India’s telecom space has yet again turned into a battlefield.
While telecom companies are fighting each other on one hand, they are joining hands and fighting biggies like TCS and Microsoft on the other.
Huh? What’s going on?
ReadOn!
⚔️ The Telecom Civil War
The fun fact about this ‘telecom’ war: the war isn’t about telecom operations at all.
It is about their other businesses.
You see, Airtel is in the DTH (direct to home) business: it gives us access to TV channels through its set top box.
And Jio is in the broadband business: it gives us an internet connection at home.
Now, these two businesses seem non-competitive.
Airtel lets our parents watch their news and TV shows, while Jio allows us to watch our OTTs or surf the internet in peace.
But there’s a kahaani me twist.
Jio is also providing free access to many live TV channels. Umm, how?
🤨Jio Entering Airtel’s Terrain?
Well, JioFibre has tie-ups with OTT channels like SonyLiv and Zee5.
These OTTs not only allow you to watch exclusive OTT shows and content. They also allow you to watch the shows that are airing on television every day.
Through Jio TV Plus, you can even watch live news and live shows in multiple languages.
Just get JioFibre, grab a tub of popcorn, and enjoy life!
Now, this is directly impacting Airtel’s business.
After all, who will buy Airtel’s DTH set top box when you can watch content at affordable prices with Jio?
Airtel is mad. It’s losing business to Jio and it feels helpless.
So, it did what we all do when we’re helpless: complain.
<can add a cute gif of complaining>
Airtel wrote a letter to the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) highlighting all its worries.
It complained that Jio’s pricing was “predatory”. It claimed that Jio is trying to kill off competition by offering low prices.
Now, another kahaani me twist.
Tata Play, which is also in the DTH business, accused Airtel of doing the same thing that Jio is doing.
Turns out Airtel is also offering OTT services and live channels along with its telecom plans.
What was Jio’s response to Airtel’s complaint?
Well, Jio said that it is just trying to provide broadband services to everyone at affordable prices and Airtel is just complaining because it can’t compete.
Who is right? And who is just complaining?
We’ll let the TRAI decide that.
Now, here’s another interesting twist in this telecom tale:
Airtel and Jio are joining hands to fight off bigger rivals like TCS and Microsoft.
After all, the enemy of your enemy is your best friend.
Now, what is this battle about?
Ironically, they’re fighting over air!
🔍 The Battle for Spectrum
The internet that you are using to read this blog right now comes to you through airwaves (or through underwater cables).
And companies need to buy the rights to use these airwaves to broadcast their network to you.
These airwaves are officially called spectrum.
And every telecom company and tech company is after this air!
You see, companies can’t just broadcast signals randomly.
They need to be broadcasted at different frequencies to reach users.
And different frequencies have different uses.
A low frequency gives you higher coverage and a high frequency gives you better speeds.
But a mid-band spectrum gives you the best of both worlds: high speeds without compromising on coverage.
One such band is the 6 GHz band. Right now, only ISRO uses this band in India.
Now, telcos want to get their hands on this band. They are asking the government to put it up for sale in spectrum auctions.
But, tech companies are opposing this. They want the government to keep this spectrum unlicensed (basically, keep it for free)!
Um, and why on earth would the government do that?
Well, if tech companies could use this 6 GHz band for free, they could offer fast WiFi services for free.
This could be good for India as it would help us get internet access in places where it is difficult to set up cellphone towers.
But, telcos would lose out on a crucial asset. Plus, India could lose around
Rs. 3.8 lakh crores that it would get by auctioning this band.
What will the government choose? And with the telecom space heating up, what does the future look like? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi
I would just like to know what it is in for TCS or Microsoft to ask government to have 6GHz frequency for free.