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Escalating their concern over 3G roaming agreement, Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Sunil Mittal, Idea Cellular Chairman, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, and Vodafone Group's CEO, Mr Vittorio Colao, have written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in the matter.
The three honchos, in a letter to the PM, said the Government should either allow 3G roaming or refund the money paid by them for spectrum.
"In the event 3G intra-circle roaming is now deemed impermissible, then, it would be 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 along with compensation for all the capital investments made by us," the letter sent on November 21 stated.
The CEOs said the Government is reneging on its promises made through the technology-neutral licence and the 2008 licence amendment and the Q&A confirmations provided before the 3G auctions.
"Any suggestion that existing 3G intra circle roaming agreement is akin to spectrum sharing is to say the least misleading. Even the DoT in its recent communication to TRAI has clearly stated that 'intra service area roaming in 3G network where one of the operators does not have 3G spectrum shall not be treated as spectrum sharing," the letter said.
Three units within the DoT and the telecom regulator have already said that the 3G roaming arrangement was not in line with the licence conditions. The legal department has also said the roaming agreement was not strictly permitted under the licence. The current licence rules permit operators to go in for roaming agreements to allow users to get seamless coverage as they move from one circle to another. But in the case of 3G services, operators are selling connections even where they do not have spectrum.
The Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell of the DoT had earlier said that action must be taken against those operators that have entered into such roaming deals, whereby a mobile operator without 3G spectrum is able to offer services. The Wireless Planning & Coordination wing, which is responsible for spectrum management, also termed the so-called roaming arrangement as illegal. TRAI, in its report on the issue, said such an arrangement was not only causing loss to the national exchequer but also affecting the quality of 3G services offered to consumers.
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