DoT panel asks telcos to terminate 3G roaming, recommends penalty
The Department of Telecom panel believes 3G roaming agreement between the telecom operators are 'illegal' and breach the licence norms.
The telecom operators’s 3G roaming arrangement, under which they provide services in the circles where they don’t have licence, has once again come under the scanner. A panel in the Department of Telecom has recommended immediate stoppage to the arrangement, describing such pacts as “illegal” and “violate licence rules”. The panel, formed to review 3G roaming agreement, has also suggested a heft penalty of Rs. 50 crore per service area for such violations of the licence rules.
According to an Economic Times report, the panel in an internal departmental note has asked for “immediate stoppage of selling and provisioning illegal 3G services to existing and new customers, and imposition of Rs 50 crore against each licence”.
The DoT panel says such roaming deals that lead to “third-party use/sub-leasing of spectrum, would allow mobile phone companies to launch any kind of service without having the commercial rights to use the spectrum in a particular service area”.
The “sale/provisioning of 3G services through the network of other operators using intra-circle roaming facility leads not only to licence violations but also results in undue enrichment of these mobile phone companies who are collecting revenue from 3G customers without specific authorisation,” adds the panel in its note.
The latest DoT panel note comes months after the department issued a show cause notice to Airtel seeking stoppage of 3G roaming services. The operator, however, moved to the Delhi High court challenging the DoT notice. According to Airtel, the DoT notice contradicted the interim orders passed by the telecom tribunal, Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The tribunal asked DoT not to take any coercive action against the operator until next hearing.
The DoT, however, has issued a similar notice to Vodafone and Idea Cellular, asking them to end their 3G roaming services in circles where they do not own the licence.