The department of telecommunications, in the draft universal licence guidelines to be signed with telcos which recently won spectrum in the 1800 MHz auction of November, has included a new clause for foreign companies.
The decision had been communicated to the department of telecommunications, a senior official of the department told Business Standard.
Telecom sector has seen phenomenal growth over the past decade or so, says the prime minister.
The telecom and banking departments along with the railways accounted for the maximum number of public grievances among the various arms of the government in the last three years.
A Public Interest Litigation seeking a directive to the government to establish guidelines to safeguard the health of the public from radiation emitting out of cell phone towers will be heard by the Supreme Court on Thursday. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Reliance Infotel to be the biggest beneficiary.
Though the government has been pushing for exports of high-value manufactured goods across major markets in place of raw materials and input goods, India's top exports to China remain in the raw materials category.
The Department of Telecommunications has raised demand of around Rs 877.6 crore from Vodafone as spectrum charges for the period between 2008-09 and 2011-12, sources said.
The recommendations of the commission will now be put before the empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram for a final decision.
A recent note based on the audit said telecom companies such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular had demanded additional spectrum, based on subscriber-linked criteria for meeting the quality parameters of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India before the spectrum auction decision was taken.
Industry body COAI plans to approach DoT citing Supreme Court's 2012 order
If the apex court decides on a 15-year repayment tenure, it would pose a grave challenge for the debt ridden VIL.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre and telecom companies for doing self-assessment or reassessment of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues fixed by the apex court in its verdict given on October 24 last year. The top court, which was also anguished by frequently published newspaper articles on the AGR issue, said all managing directors of telecom companies will be personally responsible and held for contempt of court for any such future write-ups hiding the truth.
About 57,271 villages in the country are yet to be connected with mobile services, Parliament was informed.
An apex committee under DoT Secretary R Chandraskehar has been set up to oversee the required policy decisions and institutional framework for an alliance between the two public sector undertakings which have been incurring losses.
Vodafone Idea and Airtel have made provisions for their liabilities arising from the Supreme Court order in their latest September quarter results.
While in all, 15 entities owe the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges, it is not immediately clear just how much of that has been sought by the government by midnight.
The government has 97 blocks of 1.25 MHz spectrum each, which DoT can put on the block in the third round.
In two other changes, young MP Milind Deora, MoS in telecommunication and information technology ministry, got additional the portfolio of Shipping in the same rank and Panabaka Laxmi, who was made MoS in textile ministry on Sunday, was reallocated petroleum and gas department.
Telecom Commission has recommended that existing mobile operators vacate airwaves in the 900 MHz band at the time of renewal of licences in 2014 -- a move that GSM players say would cost them over Rs 66,000 crore (Rs 660 billion) in replacing infrastructure.
The government cannot force mobile operators to go beyond their roll-out obligation and give phone coverage to fishermen venturing into the deep sea, the Department of Telecommunications has informed the naval authorities.
International telcos such as Russia's Sistema and Norway's Telenor and foreign investment funds such as KAIF Investments Mauritius and Capital Global Ltd (investors in Loop Telecom) have sent legal notices to the Indian government under the respective Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
DoT's proposal to impact many, including Vodafone
Bharti Airtel has sought quashing of the government's September 28 decision directing the service providers to stop providing intra-circle roaming services.
The government on Monday budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including 2 PSU banks and one general insurance company, in the next fiscal year beginning April 1. The amount is lower than the record Rs 2.10 lakh crore which was budgeted to be raised from CPSE disinvestment in the current fiscal year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the government's CPSE stake sale programme, and the target has been lowered to Rs 32,000 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Filing an affidavit before the TDSAT, the department of telecommunication has requested the tribunal to dismiss the petition of telecom operators challenging the government directive to stop 3G roaming immediately.
Attempts to access the website opened up a page with the message: This site has been blocked as per instructions from the Department of Telecommunications
It challenged the Delhi High Court's order giving its nod to the Centre's decision holding the 3G roaming pact of the telecom major as illegal.
DoT's data is based on inputs from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and service providers.
The high-powered panel, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, which was to discuss the roadmap for auction of unsold GSM spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka, has been deferred twice last month.
Telco moves Delhi High Court against order; Vodafone expected to get notice too
In a statement on Tuesday, DoT said, "1,800 and 900 MHz bands were to be auctioned simultaneously, starting March 11, and the 800 MHz band auction was to commence two days after the conclusion of the auction of the 1,800 and 900 MHz spectrum.
Telcos likely to get to switch from 2,300-MHz band for 4G services.
Miffed at a rise in annual licence fee on Internet service providers, industry body Internet Services Providers Association of India on Thursday said it would approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal, challenging the new fees.
Limited monopoly period to airline bidding for least subsidy to connect any of 80 Tier-III cities.
A government group under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has broadly accepted a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) proposal favouring a three-pronged strategy to deal with the challenges arising out of the Supreme Court order cancelling 122 telecom licences.
Only the Supreme Court can rectify spectrum management in line with other resources, but all stakeholders can contribute, writes Shyam Ponappa.
It had also led to delays in allocating even start-up spectrum.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have sent separate letters to the department of telecommunications (DoT), asking the government to bear the entire burden of nearly Rs 11,000 crore they need to fork out as one-time payment for additional spectrum.
