Sunil Mittal said that Airtel will legally challenge the TRAI order on predatory pricing. (Image: Reuters)

After a report by mobile analytics company OpenSignal said last week that data speed is one of the lowest in India pegging the 4G speeds in the country even below Pakistan, India’s leading telecom industry czar Sunil Bharti Mittal points out that India has very high data consumption, which in turn outs pressure on the network. Responding to the contention that India’s speeds are lower than Pakistan, Sunil Mittal told CNBC TV18, “Pakistan doesn’t even have a 4G network, so it’s not that we’re behind Pakistan in terms of speed. We must keep in mind that India has one of the largest number of users in terms of data consumption. We are at 10-11 GB per month.”

Sunil Mittal, the chairman of India’s largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel, said that India ranks the highest in terms of usage. “There are no other countries at that level currently. The consumption is high given the low pricing. People are guzzling entertainment, videos, live TV and what not, that puts a lot of pressure on the network,” Sunil Mittal said. He said that as data tariffs rationalise, the speeds will improve. On the sidelines of Mobile World Congress, Mittal said that nothing can be worse than free services. “We faced nine months of free services from the new operator,” Mittal said.

In the same interview, Sunil Bharti Mittal said that there is no option but to legally challenge the TRAI order on predatory pricing, as Airtel cannot work in a market with their hands tied. Mittal had also said on the sidelines Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, that Trai’s response binds Airtel from conducting business in an orderly manner, “I cannot envisage anything other than a legal challenge to counter this order,” Mittal said on the sidelines of the event.

The telecom regulator had fixed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh per circle for every tariff plan that is found to be predatory, which will be determined on the basis of average variable cost of the carrier. Further, the TRAI order said that it will determine whether there is specific intention to reduce or kill competition. Notably, Trai will scrutinise the issue on a case by case basis depending on the complaint received. The onus to prove that there is no predatory pricing will be on the telecom operator under question.