TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Industry body COAI on Saturday returned fire in the ongoing stand-off with Reliance Jio, saying its “differences” are with regulator Trai’s orders, not with a specific operator, and that it is duty-bound as an association to raise concerns on growth of the sector.
The rebuttal comes after Reliance Jio termed as “defamatory” and “malicious” recent allegations by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) that indicated that orders by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) are favouring the newcomer. “Our differences are with the orders of the regulator and not with any specific operator. Our intention is not to aggrieve any particular operator.
Individual operators are free to pursue the interests of their own company vigorously under the framework of the laws of the land,” COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said in a statement. Incidentally, Jio has demanded that both COAI and Mathews tender public apology within 48 hours over the industry body’s allegations dated February 20.