 "Delhi HC lifts stay on Bharti Airtel's 3G pact ban")
On March 15, the department of telecommunications (DoT) had sent a notice to Airtel to stop 3G services in the seven circles where it does not have the required licences, within three days. Airtel was offering 3G services in the seven circles by signing intra-circle roaming (ICR) agreements with Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd. Airtel was also asked to pay a penalty of Rs 50 crore per circle.
However, the company got a stay on the DoT order from a single-bench judge in the Delhi High Court on March 18. Besides, the court had allowed Airtel to continue its 3G services in the circles — Haryana, Maharashtra, UP (East), Kolkata, Gujarat, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh — until the next hearing, scheduled for May 8.
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In today’s order, which lifted the stay, the high court said Airtel had not filed the affidavit of undertaking as directed by the single judge order that put the stay on the DoT notice. DoT has also stated before the high court the department was in the process of filing an appeal.
On today’s order, an Airtel spokesperson said: “Bharti Airtel has always maintained the highest standards of compliance. We believe the 3G ICR arrangements are in compliance with all applicable laws and licensing conditions. These arrangements are also hugely beneficial to customers and discontinuing these will cause grave inconvenience to them. We await a copy of the order and will consider appropriate legal action.”
Airtel has 6.8 million 3G customers across the country, of which 5.2 million are active.
According to industry experts, execution of the DoT order would impact about 30 per cent of its total 3G subscribers.
Airtel offers 3G services in 13 more circles, where it has bought spectrum for about Rs 12,295 crore, through aggressive bidding at the 3G spectrum auction held in 2010. Subscribers in these circles will not be hit by the order.
Idea Cellular, which also offers 3G services through ICR pacts, had also obtained a stay from the Delhi High Court against the stopping of 3G services some time back.
In its notice, DoT had asked Airtel to to stop the provisioning and selling of 3G services to existing and new customers within these seven circles, and to provide confirmation of having stopped the service to DoT within three days.
Airtel, Vodafone and Idea together have about 12 million 3G subscribers in India. Of these, Idea has 2.8 million and Vodafone has 2.5 million.
The three operators signed pacts for sharing 3G spectrum and offering services across each others’ circles, as no operators has pan-India licence for 3G. Vodafone has 3G spectrum in nine circles and Idea has in 11.