Telecom operators like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea would not be greatly worried by the Facebook-Jio deal on the count that any special pricing may accrue to the subscribers of Jio which may put them at a disadvantage. The biggest worry in a deal between a telecom operator and an over-the-top (OTT) player is preferential access of certain services and content to its own subscribers at a concessional rate. However, this is not possible under the differential data pricing regulation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Even e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart need not worry that Jio may provide free data for accessing its platform. Under the differential data pricing regulations, operators cannot price data or any other services differently for their own customers vis-a-vis customers of other players if the app is on the internet. Since the Jio Mart-WhatsApp platform will be available on the Internet and can be downloaded via playstore, Jio cannot provide any benefit to its own set of subscribers in terms of charges.
However, other telcos may face the heat in the long term by the nature of partnership which over time may see their high-end subscribers moving on to Jio’s network just by the brand pull of WhatsApp. “Up to now Bharti and Vodafone Idea have been able to promote their ‘openness’ as key differentiators versus Jio’s more closed approach to digital services. However, with WhatsApp firmly entrenched as the dominant OTT messaging platform in India, Jio will now have a channel for promoting their other digital services directly to the customers of their competitors. Moreover, over time it’s also possible to expect Jio to try to use the WhatsApp relationship to try to convert Bharti and Vodafone Idea customer to use their network. We see this as a negative development for both Bharti and Vodafone Idea,” brokerage Bernstein said in a note.