Close on the heels of the Supreme Court order on Bharti Airtel, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to stop acquiring new 3G customers in circles where they don?t have spectrum but use the networks of other telcos.
Vodafone and Idea provide such services in 11 and six circles, respectively. The HC will next hear the two telcos? plea in the 3G intra-circle roaming pact case on 15 July.
The court also said that no coercive steps would be taken on the issue of penalty raised against the telecom operators for allegedly providing 3G services illegally.
The development comes a day after the SC ruled that till the 3G intra-circle roaming (3G ICR) case is disposed of, Bharti Airtel cannot acquire new 3G customers in the seven circles where it doesn?t have spectrum. However, the court said existing customers in these circles will continue to be serviced. Bharti is also free to add customers in the circles where it has 3G spectrum.
On April 5, the department of telecommunications (DoT) had issued notices to Vodafone and Idea Cellular to immediately stop providing 3G intra-circle roaming services in circles where they do not have spectrum. It had also slapped a penalty of R550 crore on Vodafone and R300 crore on Idea for violating the licence conditions.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher, referring to an SC order on a plea of Bharti Cellular in a similar case, asked DoT not to take any coercive steps in pursuance of its notices issued to the telecom companies. ?Meanwhile, the petitioners (Vodafone and Idea Cellular) are directed not to add new customers for providing 3G services,? Justice Shakdher said and issued a notice to the DoT to file its reply to two separate petitions of the telecom service providers. Senior advocates AM Singhvi and Maninder Singh, appearing for Idea Cellular and Vodafone, respectively, sought a stay on the operation of DoT notices.
Interestingly, Idea Cellular had earlier received a stay order from the Delhi HC in a related matter. Idea, which had got fresh licences in seven circles after winning spectrum in November 2012, moved HC against the DoT’s move of putting a clause in the licence conditions that it cannot provide 3G intra-circle roaming in these circles. The court had stayed this action till further hearing in the matter.
Industry sources said that the 3G intra-circle roaming case has become complicated and seems set for a long-drawn battle.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea won 3G airwaves in 13, 9 and 11 circles, respectively, in the 2010 auctions. They subsequently entered into intra-circle roaming pacts with each other and rode on the airwaves of their partners in regions where they did not hold spectrum themselves. These roaming pacts enabled them to offer high-speed data services on a pan-India basis.
Meanwhile, the court allowed the plea of another senior lawyer, Mukul Rohatgi, that Reliance Communication be impleaded as a party to the petitions filed by Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
