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With the Department of Telecom planning to take action against 3G operators for illegal roaming arrangements, Tata Teleservices and Aircel have scrapped their agreement for offering services in each other's circles. This comes after the DoT termed such agreements as illegal on grounds that it is tantamount to spectrum sharing.
Tata Teleservices and Aircel had entered into an intra-circle roaming agreement a few months back under which Aircel started offering 3G services even in those circles where it did not have spectrum. But, with the DoT looking to take action against all operators who had done similar arrangements, the two operators have called off their agreement.
Confirming the move, an industry source said, “The arrangement between Tata Teleservices and Aircel was operational for about 40-50 days on a pilot basis. The two companies ended the deal soon after the Government said that such arrangements were illegal.”
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had also entered into similar roaming agreements but have not pulled back the service so far. Earlier, the operators, including Tata Teleservices, had written a letter to the Communication and IT Minister to either permit 3G roaming or refund the money paid for spectrum.
No pan-India spectrum
3G operators had to enter into roaming agreements because none of the companies won pan-Indian spectrum during last year's auctions. The current licence rules allow operators to go in for roaming agreements to enable 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. This has been held illegal by all the wings of the DoT, including the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing and the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring unit. The telecom regulator had said that 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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