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.

 

[MarthaNeilsen_2017]

Hope BSNL will become the saviour soon. The current 1 lakh tower additions if approved and put up will make a much better level playing field.

 

[Nikhil Shirvankar]

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

Yes but with unlimited voice and 100 SMS's, although selective minutes and SMS packs then were definitely starting lesser than 189

 

[iDJ]

Yes but with unlimited voice and 100 SMS's, although selective minutes and SMS packs then were definitely starting lesser than 189

Rs. 10 talktime will last me forever as I barely speak with someone on phone.

 

[thisisjagan]

Comparing today's state with the state we were 10 years ago is not right. Jio disrupted the market for their own Good to come to this situation. They buried a lot of operators. Some good operators like Aircel and Docomo had to shutdown. Right now we have only two operators. This is a very bad state to be in.

 

[TheAndroidFreak]

Hope BSNL will become the saviour soon. The current 1 lakh tower additions if approved and put up will make a much better level playing field.

Next 1L will be completed only one year from now onwards. BSNL can be primary operator only in circles like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Punjab as of now. BSNL needs 3L+ towers with 700Mhz on it. Without that, you can't use BSNL. That will take 2028.

 

[vishalrao]

I think wrong word is being used here... it should not worry about duopoly... need to break the CARTEL-isation - every operator matching each other in reducing benefits and increasing prices while no improvement in quality of the services whether it's things like call drops or slow internet speeds etc.