Eye-brows have been raised as to how eight major
telecom companies are operating 3G services in 33 circles with impunity without
permission or giving any charges.
This
is despite the fact that some of these
companies have got no relief from the
courts or even appellate tribunals. The Department of Telecom (DoT),
for the record, has an answer “Show Cause Notices to telecom companies
who are in violation of
license conditions are under the consideration.”
But these have been under the consideration for a long time. The list of these powerful companies may give a
clue as to why there is a delay in acting by the DoT. They are Vodafone Easar South,
Vodafone Eassar Spacetel Ltd., Idea Cellular Aditya Birla Telecom
Limited, Aircel Limited & Bharti Airtel Limited, Dishnet Wirless Ltd
and Spice Communications Ltd.
These companies operate 3G services in 33 circles
across India.
Though these companies were given licences in their respective circles during the bidding of the 3G services. But
they started giving 3G roaming service by entering into agreements without the
permission of the DoT. The government maintains that this is contrary to the
licence agreements. Companies maintain that roaming is part of the terms and conditions of the bids. The department denied it.
But
the baffling part is that the DoT is not acting against these companies
either despite their failure to getting any relief from the Telecom
Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal
(TDSAT). The TDSAT gave a split verdict which simply means that the
companies are liable to pay the inter-connectivity charges which run
into hundreds of crores of rupees.
The Telecom Minister also told the Parliament during the
Winter session that “Violations related to provisioning of 3G
services without specific authorization came to the notice of Government. On
examination, it came to notice that such licensee(s) are providing 3G services
to their customers by entering into a commercial agreement called Intra Service
Area Roaming Agreement.”
When the DoT issued to one company (Bharti
Airtel Limited) a show cause as to why financial penalty is not imposed for
violation of the license conditions, it rushed to Delhi high court. However, the court directed
the company to reply to the notice. The DoT had asked as to why Licenses of 7 Licensed Service Area (LSAs) be not
terminated where the company is proving 3G services without any specific
authorization. The company was asked to stop provisioning of 3G services in
these 7 LSAs within 3 days from the date of issue of notice.
Officials say that no motives should be
attributed for the delay in issuing notices to the remaining companies.
The companies are operating in the following circles:
Vodafone Easar South Ltd.,(Andhra
Pradesh), Idea Cellular Limited, Vodafone Essar Speacetel Ltd.,
Assam, Aditya Birla Telecom Limited, Vodafone Eassar Spacetel
Ltd.,(Bihar), idea Cellular Limited (Delhi), Aircel Limited & Bharti Airtel
Limited (Gujarat), Bharti Airtel Limited (Haryana), Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd
(Himachal Pradesh), Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd (Jammu & Kashmir),
Spice Communications Ltd, Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd., (Karnataka), Bharti
Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd.,(Kerala), Bharti Airtel Ltd., &
Idea Cellular Ltd., (Kolkata), Bharti Airtel Ltd., Dishnet Wirless Ltd,&
Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd., (Madhya Pradesh), Aircel Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd,
& Idea Cellular Ltd ( Maharashtra), Idea Cellular Ltd, (Mumbai), Idea
Cellular Ltd & Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd., (North East), Aircel Ltd.,
Idea Cellular Ltd., & Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd., (Rajasthan), Idea
Cellula Ltd., (Tamil Nadu inculding Chennai), Bharti Airtel Ltd., (Uttar
Pradesh East), Dishnet Wirless Ltd., &Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd., (Uttar
Pradesh West), Idea Cellular Limited (West Bengal).
