Department of Telecom (DoT) today file an affidavit and requested to Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to dismiss the petition of telecom operators challenging the Government Directive to stop Intra-Circle 3G Roaming via ICRA immediately.
In a strong rebuttal to Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel on the issue of Intra-Circle 3G Roaming, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has alleged that service providers have “not come with clean hands” and that they have “suppressed material documents”
DoT also said that “Intra-circle 3G roaming pact by operators is “in violation of various terms and conditions of Cellular Mobile Telecom Service License and various terms and conditions of the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) dated 25.02.2010 for 3G/BWA Auction”.
On 22nd December,2011, The DoT asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular to called off their mutual agreement for 3G Roaming and stop 3G Roaming services via ICRA with in 24 hours in telecom circles where they had failed to win 3G spectrum in the auction held in 2010.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular who have entered into mutual agreement with each other to offer 3G services in the name of intra-circle 3G roaming and selling their 3G products and new connections even in circles where they do not have 3G spectrum/licence, challenged the DoT’s decision before the TDSAT on 23rd December,2011.
