New Delhi:
In a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, three leading telecom firms have slammed the government's move to disallow 3G intra-circle roaming saying it will deter further investments.
In the letter, the firms have even threatened to exit 3G.
The letter is signed by Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & CEO, Bharti Airtel; Kumar Managalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group and Vittorio Colao, Group CEO, Vodafone.
The firms accuse the government of going back on its promise of allowing the 3G intra-circle roaming and are asking for refund of the spectrum auction payment along with compensation for all capital investments made by the telecom companies.
"...in the event that 3G Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) is now deemed impermissible, then, it would be a clear breach of our contract and the pre-auction confirmation given by the Government. In that eventuality, we request that our spectrum auction payments be refunded to us with interest (as) compensation for all the capital investment made by us," the letter said.
The telecom firms' decision to take the battle to the Prime Minister's doorstep is a big shocker for the government considering representations have been made before the telecom minister in the past. The move shows that the telecom firms are running out of patience; they want to know the government's final stand on whether they will have the permission to go ahead with the intra-circle roaming.
According to the telecom firms, this was something that was promised to them and the government is going back on its technology-neutral stand which it had earlier taken and even as part of the 2008 licences.
The Telecom Ministry and the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI have termed the roaming pact among these players as illegal saying this tantamount to spectrum sharing which is not allowed as per the policy.
In the auction for 3G spectrum held last year, which had fetched over Rs 68,000 crore for the government, the operators had won certain circles. Later, they entered into roaming pacts with each other for circles in which they could not win the bid.
In the letter, the firms have even threatened to exit 3G.
The letter is signed by Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & CEO, Bharti Airtel; Kumar Managalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group and Vittorio Colao, Group CEO, Vodafone.
The firms accuse the government of going back on its promise of allowing the 3G intra-circle roaming and are asking for refund of the spectrum auction payment along with compensation for all capital investments made by the telecom companies.
"...in the event that 3G Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) is now deemed impermissible, then, it would be a clear breach of our contract and the pre-auction confirmation given by the Government. In that eventuality, we request that our spectrum auction payments be refunded to us with interest (as) compensation for all the capital investment made by us," the letter said.
The telecom firms' decision to take the battle to the Prime Minister's doorstep is a big shocker for the government considering representations have been made before the telecom minister in the past. The move shows that the telecom firms are running out of patience; they want to know the government's final stand on whether they will have the permission to go ahead with the intra-circle roaming.
According to the telecom firms, this was something that was promised to them and the government is going back on its technology-neutral stand which it had earlier taken and even as part of the 2008 licences.
The Telecom Ministry and the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI have termed the roaming pact among these players as illegal saying this tantamount to spectrum sharing which is not allowed as per the policy.
In the auction for 3G spectrum held last year, which had fetched over Rs 68,000 crore for the government, the operators had won certain circles. Later, they entered into roaming pacts with each other for circles in which they could not win the bid.
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