Discussion Duopoly in Indian telecom sector

[Bapun]

India’s telecom sector can’t afford a duopoly, telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia warned on World WiFi Day on June 24, adding the government supports competition in all sectors in the country.

“It’s not good enough having a duopoly or one carrier or two carriers. India must have competition in every sector. India today is probably the only country in the world for competition in ISP domain,” Scindia said at the event in Delhi.

India’s telecom sector can’t afford a duopoly, competition is a must: Telecom minister

 

[Nikhil Shirvankar]

On the contrary, during the pre-Jio era, when we had Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Tata Docomo, Aircel, Uninor, etc, still we paid for Calling, SMS, Data individually, specifically Data @ 250-400 per GB per Month, even with a duopoly, with the massive slash in prices after Jio came in, the prices going even close to that, will take a lot of time

 

[iDJ]

On the contrary, during the pre-Jio era, when we had Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Tata Docomo, Aircel, Uninor, etc, still we paid for Calling, SMS, Data individually, specifically Data @ 250-400 per GB per Month, even with a duopoly, with the massive slash in prices after Jio came in, the prices going even close to that, will take a lot of time

What if I don't need data? I still got to pay atleast Rs 189 for calling.

 

[Esmail]

A market with 4 players with the first two having 70% combined market share and the other two having 30% is a healthy market structure.
Too many players will lead to spectrum fragmentation and operators would need to have roaming agreements with each other.
Fewer than 4 and we are heading towards oligopoly which isn't gr8 for competition either.
Yes we can have 4 primary operators and a bunch of other MVNOs riding on their network catering to a niche segment of users like we have in USA that could work. Like an operator focusing on students needs, one focusing on blue collar workers, other on the wealthy affluent class with dedicated network slice and premium service.