COAI writes to government, says absence of relief may unleash unprecedented crisis, sector monopoly

NEW DELHI: Telecom body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) has warned that absence of an immediate relief by the government to the sector could unleash “unprecedented crisis” in the industry that may “potentially be catastrophic” for the nation, curtailing investments, shattering investor confidence and leading to job losses. The industry association has also rued that the adverse consequence of this could also be India ending up with a “possible monopoly in the telecom sector”.
In a letter to the telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said, “We believe that in the absence of an immediate grant of relief by the government – two of the three private mobile operators viz Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which provide services to about 63 per cent of the current subscriber base, will face an unprecedented crisis.”
A mail sent to COAI for comments on the contents of the letter remained unanswered.