from the telecom ministry to stop their inter-circle and intra-circle 3G
roaming agreements with immediate effect. The ministry has also sought
responses from the telecom firms.
Similar notices have also been issued to Tata Teleservices
and Aircel, which had also entered into similar agreements to offer services in
six circles. These two operators have already discontinued the arrangement.
On Thursday, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said that such
roaming agreements are in violation of licence norms and the operators cannot
be allowed to offer services like this.
The DoT said in an internal note that the roaming agreement
among telecom companies for 3G services would cause considerable loss of
revenue to the government, according to a PTI report.
The decision was taken after the unanimous view of
telecom regulator TRAI, Law Ministry and DoT that such roaming agreement was in
violation of the telecom licences.
Leading operators like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea had entered
into agreement with one another to offer 3G mobile services in circles in which
they could not succeed in getting spectrum in the auction held last year.
While Vodafone has spectrum in only nine circles, it offers
3G services to its customers in 20 circles. Airtel has 3G spectrum in 13
circles but offers 3G services in 20 circles. Idea Cellular has 3G spectrum in
11 circles but offers 3G services in 19 circles. The number of circles where 3G
spectrum was auctioned is 22.
Notice to stop 3G roaming pact could impact the 3G revenues of
these leading telecoms, as non-voice revenues have started increasing after the
launch of 3G services. Data offering accounted for 13.2 percent of Idea
Cellular’s sales in the September quarter, while the data services have picked
up significantly for Bharti and Vodafone. Non-voice revenues contributed 14.5
percent of Bharti Airtel’s sales in the September quarter.
Airtel has 7 million customers who have been
provisioned 3G services, while on the other hand Vodafone has over 5 million 3G
customers. Idea cellular has approximately 2 million 3G subscribers.
By Danish
Khan
editor@telecomlead.com
