business

Updated: Jan 11, 2017 11:28 IST

Maybe Mukesh Ambani will remain true to his promise of providing the fastest wireless internet connection in the counrty.

According to data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Reliance Jio provided an average speed of 18.16 Mbps over 4G connections, almost double of its incumbent rival Vodafone, which gave speeds of 9.67 Mbps. Aditya Birla-promoted Idea Cellular was third providing 5.94 Mbps, and Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel, India’s largest telecom operator, provided 4.74 Mbps.

Ambani wants to disrupt the way people consume internet, and one way to do so it provide the best and the fastest service, which will enable millions of data users to consume internet-related content and services, on-the-move.

Average download speeds from 4G network providers Reliance Jio 18.16 Mbps Vodafone 9.67 Mbps Idea Cellular 5.94 Mbps Airtel 4.74 Mbps Data source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

The 4G services is also becoming the new battleground for telecom companies. New advertisements, schemes and freebies have started bleeding the industry, which is already under a debt pile of Rs 3,85,000 crore.

For example, Airtel is offering Rs 9,000 of free data to few customers over a one year period. Idea and Vodafone have their own plans to attract new customers.

Throw in infrastructure spending, 4G is becoming an expensive value proposition for telecom operators.

Reliance Jio has already extended its free services until March, which Airtel and Vodafone feel isn’t fair.

Airtel has filed a petition in telecom tribunal TDSAT, as TRAI allowed extension of Jio’s free services beyond the stipulated time frame of 90 days. TDSAT has asked the regulator to come to conclusion within “reasonable time”.