What is 3G intra-circle roaming dispute

An unprecedented spilt verdict by a telecom tribunal has led to more uncertainty on whether agreements to offer 3G mobile roaming services between leading telecom operators can continue. While one member of the tribunal has said these pacts between telcos like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea to offer 3G roaming within a single telecom circle are illegal and should be terminated immediately, the tribunal’s chairman Justice S.B. Sinha has ruled that fresh notices should be sent out to the telecom operators by the department of telecommunication, giving them time to respond.These are the top 10 developments:1) The tribunal is a three-judge bench, but only two judges sat on this case. So there was no majority verdict today and lawyers say they are unsure of which part of the verdict will prevail. But till there are further directions from the department of telecommunications, or DoT, existing roaming services offered by the telecom operators will not be switched off immediately.2) In the meantime, the telcos are expected to move court against the decision of one judge that their agreements are illegal. Justice Sinha said the telcos may approach the Supreme Court if they want.3) Telcos had entered into an agreement after the 3G spectrum auction last year to offer roaming services in circles in which they did not succeed in getting spectrum. No single company got a pan-India licence, so these pacts were designed to provide seamless connectivity to consumers as well as utilize spectrum that was not being used.4) But if the agreements are declared illegal, then it could affect tariffs as operators may not be able to lease their spectrum to each other, pushing up their operating costs.5) Shares of telecom firms were trading in the green earlier in the day in expectation of a favourable verdict. But as confusion took over, they shed some of their gains. At 2 pm, shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 318.65 apiece, up 2.84 per cent, while Idea Cellular shares were also in the green by 4.5 per cent at Rs 81.20.6) Trouble for the Telcos began in December when the DoT issued notices directing the firms to stop their 3G roaming agreements with immediate effect. The DoT said these pacts were illegal and had sought their response within 24 hours. Similar notices were also issued to Tata Teleservices and Aircel, which too had entered into similar agreements to offer services in six circles. However, the latter two operators have already discontinued the arrangement.7) The December move of the DOT came after the telecom regulator Trai, the Law Ministry and the DoT agreed that such roaming agreement was in violation of the telecom licences. Even the sector regulator Trai had termed the existing agreement among operators for offering pan-India 3G services, despite not having spectrum in all the circles, as a violation of licence norms, a charge rejected by the industry. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, too, had ruled that such roaming agreements were in violation of license norms and the operators cannot be allowed to offer services like this.8) The GSM operators obtained a stay order against the government's directive. In January, the TDSAT too asked the DoT not to take any coercive action against operators in the 3G roaming issue. It also directed the five operators—Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Aircel and Tata Teleservices—to file their replies to the plea of the state-run firm BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) to implead in the 3G roaming controversy along with DoT.9) According to the DoT, telecom service providers cannot offer 3G service in those circles where the company does not have licence. However, the telecom companies argue that the 3G roaming agreement between the country’s leading operators is both as per existing license conditions and prior explicit written clarifications received from DoT, before the auction. They say that DoT's new stand was a complete volte-face.10) Representing Vodafone, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said that the order was completely "arbitrary and illegal", adding that under the Unified Access Services License (UASL), the operators are free to offer various types of services like voice, messaging and data. Analysts too argue that roaming pacts allow efficient usage of spectrum and help in decreasing the digital divide. They further add that the pacts increase penetration of mobile broadband services and help provide seamless 3G connectivity for end-consumers.

What is 3G intra-circle roaming dispute

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