Airtel Threatens BSNL Customers For Disconnections Of Calls: Report

Despite the fact that the Department of Telecom has announced a relief package for operators, it seems that the war between telcos is still fierce. Now, it has been reported that BSNL has written a letter to the DOT after Airtel has threatened its customers, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, BSNL is looking for DOT involvement as Airtel threatened BSNL customers that it will disconnect the calls if they do not consider the latter and Tata Teleservices as a merged company. The report states that Airtel is citing a telecom tribunal order on the merger. However, DOT has not taken any decision yet on their merger.

"Airtel has threatened that any failure of calls of BSNL customers out of non-implementation of necessary routing changes shall be the sole responsibility of BSNL," BSNL told DoT in a letter. Adding to that, It sought "guidance from DoT since the interest of the company and its customers is at stake" following Airtel's letter of October 30, the newspaper has also seen the copy.

Notably, the ministry has already filed a case against the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) decision, where the tribunal cleared the merger deal between Airtel and Tata Teleservices. While, DOT wants them to pay spectrum charges of Rs. 8,000 crore. To recall, Airtel had already submitted Rs. 644 crore to complete the merger.

Under this merger, Airtel has absorbed Tata Teleservices in 19 circles. It also includes paying some amount of the unpaid spectrum fees of Tate Teleservices.

The merger will help Airtel to get an additional 178.5 MHz spectrum in 850, 1800, and 2100 MHz bands, which is widely used in providing high- speed 4G networks. In fact, Airtel has now become the second operator in India, who is offering 4G in 22 circles.