Telecom Lead Asia: Bharti Airtel can continue 3G services in circles, where it does not have license, till May 8.
On Monday, the telecom major got interim relief from the Delhi High Court which stayed the DoT’s order asking the firm to stop 3G services in select regions.
The court let the telecom operator continue its 3G roaming pacts until the next hearing, scheduled for May 8.
Last week, Bharti Airtel moved the HC, challenging the DoT order to stop offering the 3G services in seven circles, where Airtel has a 3G roaming pact with other telecom operators.
The Delhi High Court also said Airtel would not immediately need to pay the penalty. The HC has, however, asked the telecom operator to maintain a separate account for its 3G revenue. DoT will invoke a bank guarantee if Bharti loses the case.
According to Reuters, this is the second time the High Court has come to the operator’s rescue. Last year, Airtel had challenged a similar order from the DoT after which the court directed the department to take action only after hearing out the operator.
Last year, the DoT sent show-cause notices to Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular among others, asking them to stop providing 3G mobile data services through roaming pacts outside their licensed zones as it deemed the pacts “illegal”.
The government sold 3G airwaves in an auction in 2010 that attracted much higher bids than expected, and no single company managed to get spectrum for all of the country’s 22 zones.
DoT is currently preparing separate notices for Vodafone and Idea Cellular in this regard and court’s final judgment will impact these players as well.
