CBI made the submission in its reply opposing the bail plea of former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura who was arrested with ex-Telecom Minister A Raja on February 2 for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
it will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.
In order to consider giving mobile Internet connectivity on such SIM cards, the telecom service providers will have to verify the credentials of the subscribers.
The new licences will do away with different kinds of permits that are issued to telecom companies for offering various services.
Although the industry is disappointed with the government decision not to lower spectrum prices at a time telcos are saddled with over Rs 4-trillion debt and an estimated Rs 1.43-trillion licence fee dues, the DCC has relaxed the payment structure to offer some relief to the financially stressed sector.
The department had recently sent a tax reminder notice to the British telecom major.
A new board has been constituted for the merged entity 'Vodafone Idea Ltd' with 12 directors (including six independent directors) and Kumar Mangalam Birla as its Chairman. The board has appointed Balesh Sharma as the CEO, the companies said in a joint statement. The combination will have an all-India revenue market share of 32.2 per cent and take the numero uno slot in nine telecom circles, it said adding that both Vodafone and Idea brands will continue.
Spectrum qualifies for the infrastructure criteria, say ministry officials.
The retrospective tax controversy was highlighted by Vodafone, but Cairn Plc's continuing problems point to the impact this law has had on FDI in India's oil and gas sector.
A special court on Thursday acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases. The scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08 which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Here is a detailed timeline of how the case came to light and how it has progressed over the years:
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.
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:
The CAG report, tabled in Parliament, states the interest on the short payment stood at Rs 1,052.13 crore for the period up to March 2016.
With intense competition in telecom sector, the two companies are rushing to diversify into other revenue streams, prominent among which are cloud services.
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.
Monetising real estate assets is part of the overall relief package that would be used to retire debts, upgrade networks, and offer VRS aimed at reducing the telcos' employee strength by half.
Restoration of road and tele-communication network in the Kashmir Valley, ravaged by floods, will take three to five days. The Centre has directed free flow of transport via Manali and Leh to Srinagar, the only available surface network, a top central government official said on Monday.
Following is the chronology of events in the 2G scam.
The DoT has set up a committee for the issue of spectrum cap.
Temporary relief for Bharti, Vodafone and former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh
The regulator has recommended removing cross holding norms from licence conditions and linking them with spectrum holding.
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.
The Telecom Ministry, which has sought a legal opinion on cancellation of some telecom licences for failure to meet roll-out deadlines, on Friday said the process of issuing notices over 35 licenses will be completed by March next year.
Rs 3,050-crore penalty on Airtel, Voda Idea gets nod. Final decision will be taken by DoT.
In July 2012, TDSAT gave split verdict where one of the bench member ruled in favour and other member ordered against it.
UK-based Cairn Energy PLC on Tuesday said it will drop litigations to seize Indian properties in countries ranging from France to the US, within a couple of days of getting a USD 1 billion refund resulting from the scrapping of a retrospective tax law.
To young professionals I would say, work hard, play hard and not be constrained by fads like WLB, says Sudhir Bisht.
Ahead of the coming auction of 2G telecom spectrum, the government has decided to allow all players to bid for all bands.
'Uddhav has told the cops to crack down hard on the MNS agitation if MNS activists try to vitiate the communal harmony in the state.'
Telcos in line of fire over call drops, inflated bills
In the aviation sector, 100 per cent FDI is allowed under automatic route for MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul), ground handling, and aircraft purchase.
Firms to pay Rs 24,700 cr if spectrum formula is accepted.
A barrage of requests by security agencies to a leading telecom company for telephone tapping led it to say a polite no even to the country's premier external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing.
The Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making authority within the Department of Telecommunications, on Wednesday, accepted the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on full-fledged mobile number portability.
Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom operator, on Wednesday reported a staggering Rs 73,878 crore of net loss in fiscal ended March 2020 -- the highest ever by any Indian firm -- after it provisioned for Supreme Court-mandated statutory dues. The firm, which has to pay Rs 51,400 crore dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues, said the liability has "cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".
The proposal gains significance because the merger plan was given a quiet burial under former telecom minister A Raja.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja chose not to cross-examine today a key Central Bureau of Inmvestigation witness' testimony in the 2G spectrum case in a Delhi court saying he would wait till another accused to confront the witness.
The prime minister's office on Sunday dismissed suggestions that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought to look the other way in issuance of controversial 2G spectrum licenses and said suggestions had been made informally to the Department of Telecom to ensure that there was level-playing field between the existing operators and new entrants.
The decision is likely to bring additional amount of about Rs 1,500 crore or Rs 15 billion (including interest) in the books of MTNL as refund from government for the pension that the PSU paid to its employees.
The government may be waiting for the outcome of an arbitration initiated against its levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax on UK's Cairn Energy Plc before deciding on appealing against losing a tax case against Vodafone Group, sources said. An international arbitral tribunal is expected to give a decree within next few days on Cairn Energy Plc's challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. If the arbitration award in the Cairn cases goes against India, the government has to pay the British firm over Rs 7,600 crore to reverse the dividend and tax refund it had ceased and shares it sold to recover part of the tax demand.
