The ongoing arguments in the case remained inconclusive and would continue on August 5
Under the UASL norms, spectrum is linked to licences, and a particular band of radio wave is restricted to be used in a particular technology
In stark contrast with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendation that only Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) licence-holders should participate in 3G auctions, Communications Minister A Raja today suggested that foreign telecom companies, too, would be permitted to bid for 3G spectrum.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has bluntly told the government there is no reason for its members to roll out 5G networks as they will be unviable if 'captive private wireless networks' are allowed to be run by enterprises. The COAI, which has Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as its key members, has written to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw saying there is 'no business case for the roll out of 5G networks'. Permitting such captive networks will 'diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the telecom service providers and there will not remain any need for 5G network roll out by telecom service providers (TSPs)'.
The Central Bureau India (CBI) on Monday alleged before a special court that Essar Group of companies had created a "corporate veil".
Following is the chronology of the events in the 2G spectrum allocation scam in which the prime accused and former Telecom Minister A Raja was on Tuesday granted bail:
Airtel, Vodafone-Essar favour delinking; Reliance, Tata oppose.
Concerned that they will not be able to comply with downlinking guidelines and cable laws, broadcasters and the cable industry have strongly opposed any move to govern Internet Protocol TV services through the Unified Access Service Licence agreement
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday came out with a notification under which a UASL (Universal Access Service Licence) holder will have a lock-in period of three years or till the fulfilment of rollout obligations, whichever is earlier, before promoters can sell their equity stake.
The Cellular Operators Association of India has suggested that the government, in allocating telecom licence, consider applicants with experience and impose a five-year lock-in period under which promoters cannot sell their equity.
The cable industry has asked the government to quickly address the policy issues related to the Internet Protocol TV. Otherwise, over 3,000 unauthorised television channels, which include pornography, will enter Indian homes.
Amid tight security and an altercation with HFCL chief Mahendra Nahata at Sanchar Bhawan, headquarters of the Department of Telecom, nine companies among 45 applicants were offered letters of intent (LoIs) for unified access service licenses (UASL).
Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd (ABTL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Idea Cellular, will offload 20 per cent to Providence Equity Partners, a US buyout firm, for Rs 2,560 crore. This takes Providence's total investment in Idea Cellular to $1.04 billion, which is the largest private equity investment in an Indian telecom service provider. The deal values ABTL at Rs 12,800 crore.
However, operators said the chief beneficiary would be the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been given the spectrum for 3G services, as well as Reliance Communications, which is still to roll out its 2G GSM network.
To bring clarity, the department clearly defines terms such as promoter and competitor.
Trai also recommended allocation of 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band through auction in tranches of 2x5 MHz. And if this spectrum band was not adopted, it would be possible to provide spectrum only to two to three operators, apart from state-owned companies (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagr Telephone Nigam Limited).
Among the new guidelines under discussion, DoT is looking at raising the net worth criterion of companies applying for a pan-India UASL licence from Rs 1,380 crore to Rs 1,500 crore.
Tata group's telecom company TTSL on Monday charged BSNL with delaying the signing of agreement for interconnection under the unified access service license.
AT&T has also applied for a universal access service licence (UASL), which allows operators to offer services in both GSM and CDMA technology, with the Mahindra & Mahindra group, for 22 circles. The US company, however, has stipulated that it wants a majority equity stake in the mobile venture.
13 companies have submitted more than 230 applications for telecom licences and most of these are for a pan-India UASL. DLF and Omaxe join other real estate firms Indiabulls Real Estate, Unitech and Parsvnath Developers to apply for telecom licence.
The government on Friday reduced the rate of interest and penalty for delayed payments for telecom companies having unified access licensees, including basic companies migrating to UASL, national long distance and international long distance players,
Bharti Global is planning to put up more satellites and has set a stiff deadline to launch commercial Internet services by October in the UK, Alaska, northern Russia and northern Europe.
Vodafone had contended in its plea that DoT instead of signing and executing the ULs had at the last moment informed them that their request for deletion of 'restrictive' clauses in licence pertaining to roaming cannot be accepted.
Vodafone has to sell its entire stake in Airtel following new norms issued by government.
The DoT has issued long-awaited migration guidelines which pave way for Internet service providers (ISP) like Reliance Jio Infocomm and Tikona, that have BWA spectrum, to offer mobile telephony service by paying an extra fee of Rs 1,658.57 crore (Rs 16.58 billion).
In India, there are 22 services area, or circles, for 2G telecom services and both the companies operate in all the circles.
India's telecom sector has been through dizzying peaks, troughs, policy U-turns, court battles, brutal competition, and daily controversies. India could go back to a private sector duopoly with just Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel surviving the mayhem. The third player, Vodafone Idea, could be history.
UK-based Vodafone Group has ruled out selling its around 5 per cent stake in the holding company of Bharti Airtel in the near future as there is no buyer.
The Supreme Court has asked the CBI to place before it the "files and notings" which purportedly suggest that its Director Ranjit Sinha wants stopping of whole trial against Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) and three top executives of the Reliance ADAG, who are accused in the 2G spectrum scam case.
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