The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal of India has allowed some mobile operators to continue offering 3G services in areas for which they don’t have licenses until Jan. 9.
The ruling comes as a relief for Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular among others. Meanwhile, the Telecom Ministry has questioned the tribunal’s jurisdiction on entertaining the petitions of telecom operators who are involved in 3G roaming deals.
“Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandiok appearing for the Department of Telecom told the tribunal that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the petitions which are altering the terms of telecom license,” the Economic Times reported.
RCR News reported on Dec. 26 that five telecom operators had jointly appealed to the tribunal against the ministry’s order to discontinue their 3G roaming agreements. The telecom ministry made its decision after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the Department of Telecom and the Law Ministry said the agreements violate the terms and conditions of the telecom licenses those companies hold.
According to another ET report, the DoT accused the five telecom operators on Monday of suppressing material documents relating to the 3G roaming deals.
These private players entered into 3G roaming deals with each other to offer services in areas for which they have not paid any license fees. Only government-owned MTNL and BSNL have acquired pan-India licenses for offering 3G services. Private telecom players like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Reliance Telecom, Tata Teleservices and Aircel only bid for selective circles.
