3G roaming: SC to hear Bharti's plea against DoT order on 8 April - Firstpost

Telecom major Bharti Airtel today moved the Supreme Court against the Department of Telecom order banning 3G services through an arrangement which allowed Airtel to ride on other operator's spectrum. DoT had asked the mobile company to stop intra-circle 3G roaming in seven circles where it did not have spectrum and also levied a penalty of Rs 350 crore  for violating licence terms and conditions. A division bench headed by the chief justice of the Delhi High Court on Thursday vacated the stay order granted to the company by a single judge bench on 15 March from stopping 3G intra-circle roaming. In the March 15 notice, the DoT had asked Bharti Airtel to stop offering 3G services in seven circles and pay the fine in 72 hours According to the telecom department though roaming is permitted, an intra-circle arrangement cannot be used to sell 3G connections in areas where the operators do not have spectrum. The high court was acting on a plea by Reliance Communications, which said Bharti's move to provide pan-India 3G data services was impacting its business, triggering a fresh round of corporate wars in the already competitive sector. Reliance in its plea said, "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." Hence, by  riding on airwaves of Vodafone and Idea, Bharti Airtel  was eating into RCom's business. Once the roaming deal is scrapped Airtel's data gameplan will be reduced to 13 circles, of a total of 22 circles. However, Bharti Airtel has now sought a stay on the Delhi HC order and the Supreme court will hear the telecom player's plea on 8 April. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had won licenses for 13, nine and 11 circles, respectively. These three GSM operators then entered into agreement with each other for offering 3G services by using each other's airwaves. In December 2011, the government declared 3G roaming pacts 'illegal'. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFhQBDRYrnsz4GbAOgFkET_DVS0EA&url=http://www.firstpost.com/business/3g-roaming-sc-to-hear-bhartis-plea-against-dot-order-on-8-april-687355.html

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