Bharti, Vodafone, Idea get DoT notices to stop 3G roaming

Telecom Ministry on Friday issuednotices to three leading telecom firms - Bharti airtel, Vodafone and Idea -asking them to stop their 3G roaming agreements with immediate effect as thepacts are illegal and has sought their response within 24 hours.

"DoT today issued notices to three operators who arehaving 3G roaming arrangements among themselves without having 3G spectrum inthat circles. The Department has also asked operators to reply till 3 pmtomorrow whether they have stopped offering services or not," a sourceclose to the development said.

On Friday, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had ruled that suchroaming agreements are in violation of licence norms and the operators cannotbe allowed to offer services like this.

The decision comes after the unanimous view of telecomregulator Trai, Law Ministry and DoT that such roaming agreement was inviolation of the telecom licences.

Leading operators like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea had enteredinto agreement with one another to offer 3G mobile services in circles in whichthey could not succeed in getting spectrum in the auction held last year.

Similar notices have also been issued to Tata Teleservicesand Aircel, which had also entered into similar agreements to offer services insix circles. However, the two operators have already discontinued thearrangement.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) had sought a legal opinionon this matter and the Law Ministry had supported the DoT's view.

In an internal note, the DoT had said the roaming agreementamong telecom companies for 3G services would lead to a significant loss ofrevenue to the government.

There may also be an impact on revenues from spectrum usagecharges collected from operators, the note added.

Even the sector regulator Trai had termed the existingagreement among operators for offering pan-India 3G services, despite nothaving spectrum in all the circles, as violation of licence norms, a chargerejected by the industry.

The chiefs of three leading telecom firms - Bharti, Idea andVodafone - had then sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's intervention in thedispute over the 3G roaming pact, failing which they said they would surrenderspectrum.

The Prime Minister had assured the industry that thegovernment will look into their concerns and formulate forward-looking policiesto sustain growth in the sector.