The company's licences in 15 circles have been cancelled as a part of the court's verdict.
Uninor and Etisalat DB were given preferential treatment by A Raja, says CBI
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 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.
Managing Director Vinod Goenka says the company is not looking at restructuring.
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'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".
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
The government on Tuesday invited financial bids from all the nine applicants, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and RCom, who had applied for participating in 3G spectrum auction.
Etisalat DB Telecom chief executive officer Atul Jham was also questioned by the panel headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
The company operates in 21 circles. Mumbai will be in exception, which has a separate licence.
The policy is also pushing for a one-country-one-licence regime, which means removal of roaming charges.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The telephone subscriber base was 996.49 million at the end of March.
The Supreme Court in February, 2012 had quashed 122 2G licences.
DoT decides not to scrap dual-technology telecom licences
Foreign companies miffed at Indian partners for irregularities, rising debt.
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'.
He allegedly advanced the cut-off date to favour accused firms in allocation of 2G licences.
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