Telecom ministry to act against telecom operators for 3G roaming pacts

12 Dec 2011 Evaluate

The telecom ministry is expected to act against telecom service providers who have entered into roaming agreements for 3G services, as the agreements violate license terms and conditions.

'The broad view that is emerging is that it is impermissible, ' said Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar whilst commenting that the concerned ministry had received the views of the law ministry among others on the issue. Chandrashekhar also stated that the ministry will soon take action however, declined any further details. The Department of Telecom (DoT) had asked a legal opinion on this matter and the law ministry had also supported the DoT’s view.

The matter is related to the agreement between major service providers, which includes Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, for giving a 3G roaming network on a pan-India basis. Other service providers such as Tata Teleservices and Aircel, also had entered into a similar agreement to offer service in the six circles.

In an internal note, the DoT had said the roaming agreement among telecom companies for 3G services would to a significant loss of revenue for the government. There may also be an impact on revenue from spectrum usage charges collected from operators.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s was asked to intervene by the chiefs of three leading telecom companies i.e. Bharti, Idea and Vodafone, failing which they said they would surrender spectrum. PM had assured them that government will look into their concerns and formulate forward-looking policies to sustain growth in the telecom sector.

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