The company's licences in 15 circles have been cancelled as a part of the court's verdict.
Etisalat's cup of woes is brimming over. The DB group, Etisalat's partner in India, on Monday moved the Company Law Board (CLB) against the UAE-based company.
The UAE-based Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat) on Thursday filed a petition against Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, promoters of the beleaguered Swan Telecom, for "fraud and misrepresentation".
Managing Director Vinod Goenka says the company is not looking at restructuring.
Uninor and Etisalat DB were given preferential treatment by A Raja, says CBI
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has made a representation through the UAE government to request the Enforcement Directorate to withdraw a showcause notice over alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), insofar as it relates to the company and its directors on the board of its Indian joint venture Etisalat-DB Ltd. The UAE (United Arab Emirates) government owns 60 per cent of the Etisalat group.
Etisalat owns about 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB, a joint venture between Indian player DB Realty and Etisalat of UAE.
Emirates Telecommunications of the United Arab Emirates, better known as Etisalat, is in discussion with Reliance Communications for a possible merger or acquisition.
The UAE-based Etisalat issued proceedings on Monday towards winding up its Indian joint venture Etisalat DB Telecom, earlier called Swan Telecom. The company was doing it "so that there can be a proper and orderly end to the business of Etisalat DB Telecom that is supervised by the Indian Courts", it said in a statement.
Etisalat, which is mulling an Indian foray, has since started discussions with several telecom companies including the Videocon Group's Datacom Solutions and Essar-controlled Loop Telecom for equity. Ravi Sharma, CEO of Datacom confirmed that Etilasat was one of the companies to which the company was talking but declined to offer details. Loop Telecom declined to comment.
Bharti Airtel is all set to face competition in its proposed bid for South African telecom major MTN Group. United Arab Emirates-based telecom company Etisalat today said that it might bid for the South African company, too. Etisalat is evaluating a possible bid for MTN as it seeks to boost revenues from the continent to at least a quarter of its total revenues in four years, Reuters reported quoting the company Chairman Mohammed Omran.
UAE-based telecommunication services provider Emirates Telecommunications Corporation has pulled out of negotiations to acquire a stake in Indian wireless telephony service provider Spice Communications, citing high valuation. Separately, the promoters were expecting a deal to be signed in the next couple of days.
Under the long-term passive infrastructure sharing agreement, Etisalat DB, a joint venture between Etisalat and Dynamix Balwas Group and its subsidiary, would outsource their telecom infrastructure requirements for the 15 telecom circles, the company said in a statement.
The department of telecommunication has sent notices to Etilsalat DB, along with other new operators for cancelling their licences, as it failed to start services even after two years of getting spectrum, which is a violation of the licence terms and conditions.
As part of the service, UAE-based Indian immigrants can transfer money to their families based in India and the service would complement existing remittance channels and make transferring money internationally more affordable, Tata Communications said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the first phase, this service would be extended to over 27 lakh subscriber base of mobile services operator Idea Cellular in Kerala.
Last year Etisalat had forayed into the Indian telecom scene with the acquisition of 45 per cent stake in India's Swan Telecom for around $900 million (around Rs 4,140 crore or Rs 41.4 billion). The deal puts the value of the Indian GSM service provider, which holds telecom licences in 13 circles, at around $2 billion.The company plans to launch its first telecom operation during April-June next year.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday slapped Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) penalty on telecom firm Etisalat DB on various charges of FEMA violations in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday told operators Etisalat DB and STel to continue offering services till June 2, the limit specified by the Supreme Court for expiry of their licences.
Tech Mahindra on Monday pipped IT giants Wipro and IBM to bag a Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) outsourcing deal spread over 10 years from new telecom player Etisalat DB, which is in the process starting mobile services in India.
Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, accused in the 2G case, were today granted three days exemption from personal appearance by a Delhi court as they have to consult lawyers in Mumbai for a cheating case filed against them by foreign partner Etisalat.
The Department of Telecom has worked out a one-time spectrum charge of over Rs 2,060 crore to be levied from operators for the period they remained in business after their licences were cancelled in February last year, sources said.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) of the country's four new GSM operators who got licences in 2008 - Uninor, S-Tel, Videocon and Etisalat DB - was between Rs 8.50 and Rs 39 in the January-March quarter.
The world's most advanced handset maker, BlackBerry, has charged that Gulf-based telecom company Etisalat had updated the programming of the phones which would give them "surveillance capabilities".
If the deal goes through, this would be the second largest deal for Wipro in the telecom space. Earlier in April, the IT major bagged a Rs 2,500-crore (Rs 25 billion) contract from another new operator, Unitech Wireless. Importantly, Wipro will be pipping seven other IT vendors, including IBM and Tech Mahindra, who were also in discussions with Etisalat, according to sources.
In a major reform push, government on Thursday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, meeting a key demand of the fund-starved industry.
DoCoMo's exit from Tata Teleservices highlights the struggle of smaller operators even as the outlook improves for bigger players.
Ruling comes at a time when IT firms have signed multi-million dollar deals with telecom firms.
The operator is planning to turn aggressive in adding subscribers.
Govt petition separated from others, to be heard in open court on Apr 13
The idea is to reduce capital investments and improve profitability.
The company operates in 21 circles. Mumbai will be in exception, which has a separate licence.
Summons have been issued to some new telecom firms asking for financial records and documents, according to official sources. However, the names of the companies could not be ascertained.
Etisalat DB Telecom chief executive officer Atul Jham was also questioned by the panel headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
The policy is also pushing for a one-country-one-licence regime, which means removal of roaming charges.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A G Ganguly asked the CBI to apprise it of their findings on March 15.
Trai has recommended cancellation of 74 licences, including Unitech Wireless's 8, Aircel/Dishnet's 7, Etisalat DB's 2, Videocon's 4, Spice's 3, Vodafone's 1, among others.
Foreign companies miffed at Indian partners for irregularities, rising debt.
With the heat over the 2G telecom spectrum scam rising, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday recommended the cancellation of 34 telecom licences of companies, including Etisalat, Uninor, Loop Telecom and Siestema, due to non-compliance of roll-out obligations.
Radia, chairperson of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications and Tata, chairman of Tata sons Limited, have been asked by the PAC to appear before it on April 5 at 11 AM and 3 PM respectively to give 'oral evidence' on the subject 'recent developments in the telecom sector including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum'.
New operators, including Uninor, MTS, STel, Etisalat DB and Videocon, which were given unified access service (UAS) licences in 2008, have together captured 14 per cent of the incremental share in addition of new subscribers over the last one year.
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