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Israel managed to significantly lower the rates with the introduction of the following changes:

- Ban on SIM-locking of phones to one provider

- Allowing users to change providers without losing their phone number

- Ban on "exit penalties" for customers leaving a contract

- Forcing existing infrastructure providers to share their infrastructure with virtual or not-yet-fully-deployed new providers

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The same points hold for India as well. We’ve never had SIM locking and exit penalties and have had number portability for quite a long time. Cellular infrastructure though was handled by “non public facing” companies, owned by consortiums of telecom companies. With the entry of Reliance Jio, these companies joined hands to lock Jio out of their networks. For quite some time, cross network calls would be of very poor quality or almost impossible. Things have improved a lot since then.

However, it’s great the Israel has made it possible for infrastructure to be shared as a utility, allowing new players an easier entry. That will keep things competitive for a long time.

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