Until now, Indian telecom operators largely refrained from openly discussing alleged regulatory favouritism for the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio.
Vodafone CEO Nick Read, however, has broke silence at the annual Mobile World Congress event at Barcelona. Without detailing specifics, he said there had been many regulatory outcomes that adversely affected everyone except Jio this last two years.
Vodafone and Bharti Airtel have lost significant business (market share, revenues, and subscribers) to Jio in the past 29 months. A bunch of policy decisions were seen as tilted towards Jio - slashed international roaming rates, TRAI regulations on predatory pricing, the altered definition of significant market player, and restrictions on plans telcos can offer to subscribers.
Industry body COAI had spoken up and faced a defamation suit by Jio. But telcos have avoided naming names. Read's comments at a global forum paint a dark image of the regulatory situation in India.