Government claims Airtel, Idea, Vodafone 3G roaming agreements are illegal

[iChaitanya]

This is great news!

 

[SVK]

Better Govt gives Pan India 3G License to all interested operators (provided spectrum is available, and operator is willing to shed more money).

 

[Navjot Singh]

Yep. Ideally the Government should have given a one time Pan India license for each of the services like Basic Mobile Telephony, 2G, 3G and 4G to all the operators. It would have embraced competition to provide better services since users would get multiple options no matter in which circle they are and would have kept Roaming/STD charges in check.

 

[amar]

As expected,

Bharti AirtelBSE -1.13 % today approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's order giving its nod to the Centre's decision holding the 3G roaming pact of the telecom major as illegal.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on March 15 had issued a notification restraining Bharti from providing 3G intra-circle roaming facilities in seven circles where it did not have the spectrum and also levied a penalty of Rs 350 crore (Rs 50 crore per circle) for violating the licence terms and conditions.

The appeal against yesterday's high court order was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice R M Lodha which decided to put up the matter in the mentioning list for Monday.

The telecom major has challenged the decision of the division bench of the high court which had set aside its single's judge's March 18 order staying the DoT notification.

The high court's division bench passed the order on a plea by Reliance Communications LtdBSE 0.48 % challenging the single judge's order saying it has been incurring huge losses for the 3G on daily basis and Bharti has been using it free of cost.

The bench allowed Reliance's plea to be impleaded as a party in the case filed by Bharti before the single judge.

Reliance in its plea had said, "declare and hold 3G intra-circle roaming agreements entered into between Bharti and other service providers as illegal and in violation of Article 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution."

"It has paid thousands of crores for the 3G spectrum and Bharti is using it for free in as many as seven circles, therefore, disrupting the level playing field. If this is allowed, then there is no requirement for any licensee to participate and purchase 3G spectrum in auction. This defeats the purpose of auction," the plea also said.

Reliance said it was not made a party by Bharti in its plea before the single judge despite the fact that Reliance is directly affected by the relief sought by it.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/airtel-approaches-sc-against-delhi-hc-order-on-3g-roaming-pact/articleshow/19401253.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/supreme-court-to-hear-bharti-telecom-plea-on-3g-roaming-on-monday/articleshow/19395635.cms

 

[Sushubh]

The telecommunications ministry has asked Vodafone Group Plc's(VOD.L) local unit and Idea Cellular(IDEA.NS) to stop 3G services outside their licensed zones and imposed penalty on both carriers, a senior government official said, in a dispute that has dragged on for more than a year.
The orders follow a similar directive to top mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.NS) last month, which the company is fighting in courts. Vodafone and Idea are also expected to challenge the government orders.
The Department of Telecommunications has asked Vodafone India to pay a penalty of 5.5 billion rupees and Idea Cellular to pay about 3 billion rupees, the official said.

http://www.readability.com/articles/nudw1ihb

Vodafone and Idea lawyers would be a happy bunch today.

 

[hno3]

.... and 5 years from now ....
People standing in queues to get landlines from BSNL, Airtel etc. as there are no mobile connections
Landlines have very high demand that for ppl having one it is a matter of prestige. Mrs. Sharma talking to Mrs. Gupta: Aroras ne to airtel ki landline le li ab to sham ko milne bhi nahi aati.. Kehti hai ki mere bhai ka phone ata hai sham ko thik 7pm ko.
On facebook, cool dudes are posting the pics of their new arrived beetel landline phone. The most awesome part is that it has caller ID too.
igyaan now shows videos of unboxing of landline phones.
State govts. demanding their quotas to install more PCOs by BSNL. Politcal parties in central govt., from behind the scene, have taken control of BSNL only to give more connections to those states that have their party in ruling coalition.
Akhilesh Yadav promises to replace all the laptops give to students with landline phones, which btw are very popular with the youth, in a bid to get re-elected. But there is a catch, when the phone is idle (i.e. when it is not being used) the black and white LEDs in the caller ID display the pic of Mulayam Singh.

 

[Jignesh]

Telecommunications ministry asks Vodafone unit, Idea to stop 3G pact, imposes fines
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/telecommunications-ministry-asks-vodafone-unit-idea-to-stop-3g-pact-imposes-fines/articleshow/19401890.cms

 

[Jignesh]

These 3 Trios think they can do whatever they want. A-VO-ID (Airtel- Vodafone- Idea)

 

[Technoholic]

Same here... Not able to access Idea and Vodafone3G network in Pune.
@Technoholic
Docomo provides some awesome 3G data plans.. and 3G network is far better than Vodafone, idea and BSNL. (Even better than docomo 2g network)
Using 250 unlimited with FTT plan from last 4 months... getting minimum 7.2 mbps speed.

Thanks for suggestion. Will surely give Docomo a try as options are really few. Will check its connectivity using test SIM on 10-12 km route I travel daily and at my home and workplace, before porting primary connection. Hope it does not disappoint me.

 

[mega_processor]

.... and 5 years from now ....
People standing in queues to get landlines from BSNL, Airtel etc. as there are no mobile connections
Landlines have very high demand that for ppl having one it is a matter of prestige. Mrs. Sharma talking to Mrs. Gupta: Aroras ne to airtel ki landline le li ab to sham ko milne bhi nahi aati.. Kehti hai ki mere bhai ka phone ata hai sham ko thik 7pm ko.
On facebook, cool dudes are posting the pics of their new arrived beetel landline phone. The most awesome part is that it has caller ID too.
igyaan now shows videos of unboxing of landline phones.
State govts. demanding their quotas to install more PCOs by BSNL. Politcal parties in central govt., from behind the scene, have taken control of BSNL only to give more connections to those states that have their party in ruling coalition.
Akhilesh Yadav promises to replace all the laptops give to students with landline phones, which btw are very popular with the youth, in a bid to get re-elected. But there is a catch, when the phone is idle (i.e. when it is not being used) the black and white LEDs in the caller ID display the pic of Mulayam Singh.

this is all money raising for 2014 elections.after that if current government comes into power they will upgrade from 2g to 3g or 4g scam lol.

These 3 Trios think they can do whatever they want. A-VO-ID (Airtel- Vodafone- Idea)

thats what they thought...but 900mhz spectrum refarming has really kep them under pressure.they are just hoping that this current government doesnt get re elected and new government have some new plans,which are favourable to them.