3G pacts: DoT readies notices for Bharti, Vodafone, Idea

Bilateral roaming agreements between telcos under scanner

The department of telecommunications is readying show-cause notices for Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular for ‘violating the licence condition’ by entering into bilateral roaming agreements in areas where they did not have 3G permits.

The move comes close on the heels of the law ministry giving a ‘go ahead’ for the notices even though the TDSAT had delivered a split judgment on the matter on July 3. According to an eight-page internal DoT note, ?The final orders passed by the chairperson and the member of the tribunal do not constitute a judgment in law and the same cannot be implemented. There is a split in opinion as is evident?.

The operator would be levied a penalty of R50 crore for each circle where it has provided 3G services without proper authorisation. The operator would also be asked as to why its licence should not be cancelled. The operators, however, say the split verdict meant they can continue to provide these services.

Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone had won 3G spectrum in 13,11 and 9 circles of the total 22 service areas.

To provide 3G services to their subscribers in the circles where they had only 2G spectrum, all three service providers entered into 3G intra-circle roaming pacts.

The pact allowed subscribers of all the three operators to switch from one network to another in circles where the subscriber’s own network provider did not have 3G spectrum.

The DoT, however, has ruled that these pacts are illegal and amount to spectrum sharing rather than roaming.

It issued a ban on 3G intra-circle roaming arrangements on December 23, 2011, a day after which the affected firms approached the TDSAT.

The TDSAT, in its interim order on December 24, 2011, suspended the ban, allowing the operators to continue with the services.

On July 3, the TDSAT declared a split judgment on the issue with its chairman, Justice SB Sinha ruling in favour of the operators, saying the services are not spectrum-specific and roaming services are not linked to the band in which the operators hold spectrum.

However, TDSAT member PK Rastogi dismissed the operators? appeal, stating operators with 2G spectrum cannot provide 3G services.