Supreme Court issues notice to eleven telecos (India)
India’s Supreme Court has issued notices to the Central Government and 11 private telecoms operators on a petition which seeks to cancel those 2G spectrum licences it claims were handed to companies either ineligible for such concessions or those that failed to fulfill launch obligations.
According to reports, the court has given all respondents three weeks to respond in the matter, after the issue was raised by an independent body, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation. It is understood that the court has also called for a response as to why the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has remained silent regarding allegations of delays by cellcos in meeting their launch obligations, with it adding the regulator as a respondent in the case.
The eleven companies named in the case are: Loop Telecom, Etisalat DB (Swan Telecom), Vodafone Essar, STel, Unitech Wireless (Uninor), Videocon Telecommunications, Idea Cellular (including Spice), Allianz Infratech, Tata Teleservices, Sistema Shyam Teleservices and Dishnet Wireless (a unit of Aircel).
India threatens to cancel licenses of 85 telcos
The new telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has stated that the Indian government is planning to send 85 notices to telecom operators questioning their licenses.
According to officials, Kapil Sibal took the top spot in India’s telecom ministry earlier this month after Andimuthu Raja was forced to resign, accused of granting 2G spectrum and licenses at low prices and possibly costing the state $39 billion in revenue.
According to Sibal, many of the companies, which went through a self-certification process, were not eligible for the 2G licenses granted in 2007 and 2008. This has serious implications for transparency of process. It allow companies to get ahead of the queue on basis of first come first served, in that they did not register first with the registrar of companies. Notices will be sent to the companies mentioned in a report by the Indian government auditor.
The report named Uninor, a unit jointly owned by Unitech and Norway’s Telenor, Etisalat DB Telecom, into which Swan Telecom and Allianz Infratech later merged, Loop Telecom, Videocon Telecommunications and S Tel.
Sibal added that the companies would have 60 days to reply and 52 weeks to fulfill rollout obligations, failing which their licenses could be revoked.
TRAI asks government to terminate 62 licenses for launch postponement (India)
The Indian telecom regulator TRAI has asked the government to terminate 62 of the 122 licenses issued by ex- telecom minister A Raja as they have crossed the deadline of the services.
The recommendations of TRAI which claims that its views were ignored by Mr Raja, toughens the possibility that several of the licenses issued in 2008 could be canceled.
According to sources, the telecom department, under new minister Kapil Sibal, decided to seek legal opinion on the validity of the telecom licenses allotted by Mr Raja after the country’s national auditor stated that 70% of these mobile permits were obtained through fraudulent means.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had stated in its report on Tuesday claining that 85 of the 122 licenses given to six companies, notably Uninor, Videocon, Loop Telecom, S Tel, Etisalat and Allianz Infratech, were illegal as these firms were not eligible to obtain them. The auditor also added that these six companies had disclosed incomplete information and submitted fictitious documents and used fraudulent means for obtaining them.
According to the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, JS Sarma, mobile permits held by Loop in 14 service areas; Etisalat DB Telecom in two service areas; Sistema Shyam Teleservices in 10 service areas and Unitech Wireless in eight areas, be withdrawn because of these lapses. India is divided into 22 telecom circles.
TRAI further recommended that 13 licenses of Etisalat DB Telecom; five of Loop Telecom, and 10 of Videocon Telecommunications, also be cancelled, as the network rollouts undertaken by these companies fell short of the requisite conditions specified in the agreements that they had entered into with the government.
72 of 122 new 2G licenses are issued to disqualified telcos: CAG (India)
As per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) , 72 out of 122 new 2G spectrum licenses issued by Telecom Minister A Raja in January, 2008, were awarded to companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria.
According to the government auditor, Datacom Solution, STel, the Unitech Group of companies and Allianz Infratech, among others, were issued licenses in 2008 even though they did not meet the eligibility criteria prescribed by the DoT at the time of application.
If sources are to be believed, the Telecom Ministry may issue show cause notices to new operators, including STel, Unitech Wireless and Datacom.
The DoT has asked for access to the documents available with the auditor for further investigation into the case and to issue a show cause notice for further action, including termination of the licenses awarded to the ineligible telcos.
If the DoT chooses to terminate the licenses, it would result in encashment of guarantees worth US$59.15 million, including financial bank guarantees worth US$42.25 million and performance bank guarantees worth US$16.90 million.
As per an internal CAG note, as indicated by DoT’s own stipulation, none of these companies were eligible to apply for the grant of unified access service (UAS) licenses on the date that they submitted their applications in DoT. DoT chose not to abide by its own guidelines and issued 122 licenses without detailed verification of the documents submitted by the applicants.
According to the audit body, the applications should have been rejected in the first place.
According to sources, the DoT is yet to respond to the CAG’s latest report, which also observed that the Telecom Ministry did not consider the Law and Finance Ministry’s views on allotment of 2G spectrum.
Swan Telecom all geared up to buy Allianz Infratech’s mobile licences (India)
UAE’s Etisalat acquires 45% stake in Swan Telecom a deal for $900 million hits yesterday. Now Swan telecom is set to obtain mobile licences held by Allianz Infratech. According to Industry sources, it is anticipated that the deal, which may run into a couple of hundred crores, is likely to be announced within a fortnight. Allianz Infratech had aaplied for Telecomlicences on a pan- India level but was permitted to instigate in only two circles, Madhya Pradesh & Bihar. Swan already have the licence to operate in 13 of the 22 telecom zones in India though Madhya Pradesh & Bihar is not included in these zones. Ajay Singh, Ashish Singh, Praveen Singh and Ashish Deora are the four individuals-aviation entrepreneur who promotes Allianz Infratech. Each holds 25% of the share in the company. Following the deal, Swan will be able to provide telecom services in 15 circles covering over a billion people.Swan managing director Shahid Balwa denied the development. He admitted that Swan would make an acquisition to extend its footprint in India. Mr Balwa further said, Swan would launch mobile services in the first quarter of 2009. The company was in talks with existing operators and stand-alone tower companies for infrastructure sharing, he added. Swan Telecom is among the seven companies that was successful in obtaining GSM licences earler this year.
