Explained: Why Jio is battling incumbents over interconnect user charges

Why are missed calls such a big deal for leading telcos?

The telecom titans — incumbents vs newbie Reliance Jio — clash again, this time over innocuous missed calls. 

Incumbent operators have complained to the regulator that Jio has arbitrarily slashed the duration of the call alert ringer from 45 seconds to 20. By doing so, it has increased the number of missed calls on competitors’ networks and is forcing their customers to call Jio customers back. 

Jio, say sources, has hit back alleging that the two operators have consciously kept voice calls rates for 2G and 3G customers steep, which is a high as as Rs 1.80 a minute. High voice tariffs