BackDoT appeals TDSAT ruling on 3G services
Decision comes after DoT received an opinion from additional solicitor general in favour of an appeal
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New Delhi: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has appealed a telecom tribunal ruling that allowed operators Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd to offer 3G services using intra-circle roaming agreements.
The decision comes after DoT received an opinion from the additional solicitor general in favour of an appeal.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had ruled in April that the roaming agreements that the operators had signed in July 2010 were not illegal, as was the contention of DoT and the telecom regulator.
In May, then telecom secretary M.F. Farooqui had said that once the new government was in place, the department would seek an opinion from the additional solicitor general on whether to appeal the verdict.
TDSAT had ruled in favour of the telcos on the grounds that the roaming agreements would result in better utilization of spectrum and additional revenue for the government as a consequence. However, DoT argued that it could lead to lower valuation of the spectrum at the time of auction and is a case of spectrum-sharing.
“The government wants to implement spectrum-sharing and trading. This move of DoT against TDSAT’s verdict is not in line with the government’s proposal. It would be detrimental for the operators who have paid huge amount for license and spectrum," said Hemant Joshi, partner, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, a management consultancy firm. “It would be detrimental for the users as well who have subscribed to 3G services as they would not be able to get seamless experience across the country if the roaming pacts are declared illegal."
Intra-circle roaming allows an operator to offer 3G services using spectrum allocated to another operator, till such time as the first operator is allocated the necessary spectrum.
The case has been under scrutiny since July 2010, when the three telcos signed roaming pacts after failing to buy spectrum across the country in the auction.
DoT issued show-cause notices to all the operators concerned and subsequently fined them around ₹ 1,200 crore, following which the telcos approached the telecom tribunal.
The telecom operators almost immediately restarted intra-circle roaming services following the TDSAT ruling.
Airtel had won 3G spectrum in 13 out of 22 telecom service areas for ₹ 12,295.46 crore; Vodafone in nine for ₹ 11,617.86 crore and Idea Cellular in 11 circles for ₹ 5,768.59 crore.
Tata Teleservices Ltd and Aircel Ltd, too, had signed intra-circle roaming agreements but ended the pact after DoT issued notices to them.
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