Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea, oppose permitting internet providers to offer DLCs, seek forbearance

NEW DELHI: Indian telcos – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) – have opposed permitting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide dedicated private and high-speed Internet connectivity to enterprises, reasoning it would undermine regulatory parity and distort competition.

The telcos have further sought forbearance for DLC tariffs, i.e., allowing market forces to decide prices of services. They argued that modern technologies, including dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), Ethernet-over-Fibre, and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), have enhanced network capabilities but do not alter the fundamental case for forbearance.