DoT fixed on FWT ruling

Operators had asked for 3-month grace period to confine services to users' premises.

The government has rejected the plea of fixed wireless service providers for a three-month grace period to confine their services to the premises of subscribers.

Executives from all fixed wireless terminals (FWT) service providers had jointly approached the department of telecommunications on Friday, seeking a three month waiver on the August 26 directive, which put FWTs at par with mobile services.

While rejecting the plea, the government cited the September 9 ruling by the Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) which had said 'Walky', an FWT service offered by Tata Teleservices, was a mobile service.

TDSAT has also directed the Tatas to pay access deficit charges (ADC), a levy to compensate BSNL's unviable services in rural areas, for its FWT services.

Following the judgment, BSNL had sent notices on ADC payment to Tata Teleservices, Reliance Infocomm, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, HFCL and Shyam Telelink. It hopes to collect around Rs 500 crore from Tata Tele, MTNL and Reliance.

"Operators have sought additional time because the directive will increase FWT tariffs by almost 80 per cent for 6 million subscribers. However, this move comes following the TDSAT order on Walky. They are not justified in seeking more time as we had issued repeated orders before the ruling to lock FWTs to user premises," said a senior DoT official.

"The government will not step in. The telecom tribunal has already issued its judgment. If operators want more time, they can approach the TDSAT," the official added.

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Wrong Call

On September 9, TDSAT ruled that Tata Teleservices' Walky was a mobile service

It directed the Tatas to pay access deficit charges to compensate BSNL

Following this, BSNL sent notices on ADC to Tata Tele, Reliance Info, MTNL, HFCL and Shyam Telelink