Uninor, Videocon And Stel May Be Terminated Soon.....dot Preapring Show Cause Notice

[kesav 127]

In a bad news to telecom industry, the following companies are in the verge of losing their licences.

Uninor

Videocon

Stel

Allianz Infratech

DoT is preapring the show cause notices and finally which will culminate in termination.

It's great news for the others who is waiting on the wings to get the spectrum which will be surrendered back by these players on termination.

CAG says 72 out of 122 licences granted ineligible

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that 72 out of 122 new 2G spectrum licences issued by Telecom Minister A Raja in January, 2008, were awarded to companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria, reports PTI.

The CAG has named four such companies and their subsidiaries a having received licences despite not being eligible. The four firms are Datacom Solution, STel, Unitech and Allianz Infratech.

The DoT is mulling show causing these companies and has asked the auditor to provide documents related to the case.

If the DoT decides to terminate the licences, it would result in encashment of guarantees worth2,625 crore, including financial bank guarantees worth1,875 crore and performance bank guarantees worth750 crore.

"As per DoT's own stipulation, none of these companies were eligible to apply for the grant of unified access service (UAS) licences on the date that they submitted their applications in DoT," an internal CAG note said. "... DoT chose not to abide by its own guidelines and issued 122 licences without detailed verification of the documents submitted by the applicants," it added.

The audit body said the applications should have been rejected in the first place.

source :: http://telecomtiger.com/PolicyNRegulation_fullstory.aspx?passfrom=breakingnews&storyid=10102§ion=S174

Certainly other players who have not yet been alloacted spectrum will put immense pressure on DoT to terminate these licenses.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Honest
Topic Title Updated

[ravi_patent 28]

nothing can happen to uninor becoz of telenor being a norway govt

organisation

[Karthik R 246]

I am suprised to find Uninor's name figuring here! What criteria does it not meet?? It had rolled out full fledged service in most of the circles it have received spectrum in and had garnered enough subscribers too!

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Where is LOOP mobile (in circles except Mumbai) in this list ??? It is going on SOFT-LAUNCHING all over India, but VERY VERY SHYING to launch commercially .. First DoT should remove licensee (and spectrum) from the infinite_LOOP mobile ..

Whatever may the criteria failed, atleast Uninor, Datacom, STel are launching commercially in few circles.. LOOP is the one who is WASTING the precious spectrum now in India ...

Alliance_Infratech is LOOP or Etisalat_DB ???

Edited October 13, 2010 by KanagaDeepan

[Karthik R 246]

Etisalat bought Allianz Infratech in 2009.

Allianz paid Rs 30 crore for Madhya Pradesh and Bihar circles. They didnt launch service, held the licence for some time and then finally made a windfall profit by selling it

[kesav 127]

I am suprised to find Uninor's name figuring here! What criteria does it not meet?? It had rolled out full fledged service in most of the circles it have received spectrum in and had garnered enough subscribers too!

Dear Karthik, It doesn't matter whether they've rolled out the n/w now or not. It's doesn't matter whether they've enough subscriberss or not. It's all about whether they were meeting initial elgibility criteria at the time of application.

Even DoT has accepted that they were actually not meeting the inital eliglibility criteria at the time of application. Show causes notices will be shooted to them within next week asking why their licenses shouldn't be terminated.

Let us hope DoT will give proper exit path for all the subscribers of the players involved by requesting other incumbents to bid for inducting these affected subscribers into their n/w.

[me_saket 73]

but etisalt started service in mp, they have 1000+ subsciber in MP and 3000+ in bihar

Source coai

[kesav 127]

Exactly, Etisalat(earlier SWAN telecom) got these 2 circle licences by buying Allianz Infratech.

Hence, Etisalat faces termination only in MP & Bihar circles. Other circles which it got by buying SWAN will remain intact.

Edited October 13, 2010 by kesav

[Karthik R 246]

True. The etisalat has not yet had a commercial launch and they only had a 'soft launch' for not losing the licence.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Allianz paid Rs 30 crore for Madhya Pradesh and Bihar circles. They didnt launch service, held the licence for some time and then finally made a windfall profit by selling it

I now remember that, Mrs.R@ja is behind the Allianz co, who sold the spectrum for huge amount in black to Etisalat days after buying for small amount.

[ACS 130]

Arre yaar, eligible nahi the to spectrum kyun allocate kiya in the first place?

[kesav 127]

The argument from DoT is "As per license agreement, it's duty of the applicants to ensure they're meeting eligibility criteria before filing applications and it's not possible for DoT to verify correctness of each data quoted in the application at that stage"

It's similar to job application. It's responsibility of the employee to fill in correct details. Employment can be terminated even at later stage if empolyer comes to know about the misinformation in the filed application.

[Karthik R 246]

This 'telecom scam' have seeped deep and have attained proportion beyond our imagination/grasp. How come allianz got the license cheap for 30 crore while others are shelling out 1000s of crores!? It is a colossal loss to the Govt!

[vvinayakpai 26]

Allianz has not got pan india spectrum. It got spectrumm only in two circles (MP and Bihar). Thats the reason why the amount seems alarmingly low.

[ACS 130]

The argument from DoT is "As per license agreement, it's duty of the applicants to ensure they're meeting eligibility criteria before filing applications and it's not possible for DoT to verify correctness of each data quoted in the application at that stage"

So this, neither did DOT nor did the Foreign investors verify !!

Ab kya hoga sabka ?

[kesav 127]

That's where CAG is pinning DoT.

But I'm least surprised about it given the fact of laziness and incapability in our Govt. departments like DoT.

But I'm really really surpised about the private foreign investors like Telenor & Etisalat who've bought these ineligible licences without doing proper inspection of the papers.

[coolblue 10]

That's where CAG is pinning DoT.

But I'm least surprised about it given the fact of laziness and incapability in our Govt. departments like DoT.

But I'm really really surpised about the private foreign investors like Telenor & Etisalat who've bought these ineligible licences without doing proper inspection of the papers.

By the time DOT or TDSAT is about to take action Uninor or Videocon will have a subscriber base that cannot be neglected or inconvenienced. From my point of view Cheers mobile and loop mobile will be in trouble as they have soft launched their products and have negligible subscribers. In some circles their employees are greater in number than their subscribers.

[Honest 836]

Etisalat, others start paying penalty for missing roll-out

NEW DELHI: Facing cancellation of licences for missing roll-out obligations, some new operators including Etisalat DB are understood to have paid penalty to the government.

According to sources in the know, Etisalat DB, a joint venture between Swan Telecom and UAE-based Etisalat, has paid about Rs nine crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for missing the deadline to roll out its network or expand services in four circles.

A Etisalat DB spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the development.

In a separate statement, Uninor, a joint venture between realty major Unitech and Norway's Telenor, has said that the company has paid the penalty as demanded by DoT, however, under protest.

"Various factors, including delay in clearances required for each site, new last minute pre-launch testing requirements and new equipment security clearance processes, came in the way of roll out and were beyond our control," the company said in a statement.

The company, however, did not mention the amount of penalty paid to the DoT.

"We have requested the DoT to consider these in its assessments. As a serious long term operator with considerable presence in India, we intend to continue delivering the benefits of competition to customers in the country," the Uninor statement said.

Some more operators inlcuding Loop Telecom and Videocon are also facing action for missing the roll-out deadline, but it could not be ascertained if they too have paid the penalty.

DoT had started issuing show-cause notices to telecom firms around December 14 and had given them 15 days to respond.

Sources also said that show-cause notices are still being sent out to some of the firms. Those who were given notices on December 14 had to get back to the government by today.

As per the conditions of licence, the licencees are required to roll out the services in 90 per cent service area in metros and 10 per cent district headquarters in other service areas within 12 months of the date of award of licences.

Total penalty cannot exceed Rs seven crore per licencing area and the telecom firms get 52 weeks before their licences are cancelled.

Last month, telecom regulator TRAI had recommended cancellation of 69 licences given out in January 2008 when the Telecom Ministry was headed by A Raja.

The regulator had recommended that the licences be cancelled in at least 15 circles given to Etisalat, a company earlier known as Swan that CAG had dubbed as a front company of Anil Ambani group, and 10 circles given to Sistema-Shyam.

Besides, it recommended that Unitech group's Uninor be deprived of licences in 8 circles, Videocon in 10 circles and Loop in 19 circles.

Courtesy : The Economic Times

[Honest 836]

<< Topic Title Updated >>

[Honest 836]

Loop Telecom pays Rs 2.7cr penalty for network roll out delay

The Economic Times l 30th December l New Delhi

Another new operator Loop Telecom has paid the penalty of Rs 2.7 crore to the government for missing out network roll-out in the stipulated period .

"The company has paid Rs 2.7 crore for the three circles," a company official said.

Loop Telecom Ltd which was earlier known as BPL Mobile has licences in 21 circles but is yet to get spectrum in the New Delhi circle.

Yesterday, three other new mobile operators including Etisalat DB, Uninor and MTS had confirmed having paid the penalty for missing out the network roll out obligation.

Besides, Videocon chairman VN Dhoot, which ownes Videcon Telecommunications, declined to comment on the pay-out of the penalty.

Videocon Telecommunications, offers GSM mobile services under the brand name Videocon. The services are already up and running in Tamil Nadu(including Chennai), Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, UP East, UP West, and Himachal Pradesh.

Uninor, a joint venture between reality major Unitech and Telenor of Norway, has also made payment but did not disclose the amount of penalty. The company said that it had "paid under protest".

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) has also paid penalty ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 11 crore.

DoT started issuing show-cause notices to telecom companies around December 14 and had given them 15 days to respond.

Sources also said that show-cause notices are still being sent out to some operators.

As per the conditions of licence, the licencees are required to roll out the services in 90 per cent service areas in metros and 10 per cent district headquarters in other service areas within 12 months of the date of award of licences.

Total penalty cannot exceed Rs 7 crore per licencing area and the telecom companies get 52 weeks before their licences are cancelled.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

INFINITE LOOP TELECOM only paying Rs2.7cr as penalty????

[ayaz_cool 30]

VIDEOCON GSM SHOULD NOT LOSE THEIR LICENCE.. IT HAS A SUPERB PLANS IN MUMBAI

[sgiitk 32]

Uninor is going to sue.

This may be fun to watch.

[Honest 836]

Govt collects Rs 73.73 cr as penalty from new telcos

1st January l The Economic Times l New Delhi

The government has collected Rs 73.73 crore as penalty from new telecom operators for missing the network roll-out deadline, but is still keeping open the option of cancelling the licences.

"Total penalty is about Rs 219 crore for missing roll-out obligations. We had generated demand for over Rs 78 crore of which the operators have submitted Rs 73.73 crore," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom, Uninor, Sistema-Shyam and Aircel are among the operators who have submitted the liquidated damages (penalty), the minister said, adding that more notices are going to operators.

Asked whether the matter would end with the payment of penalty or licences could still be cancelled, Sibal said: "A decision will be taken after due consideration."

Etisalat DB Telecom, a Joint Venture between realty major Swan and UAE-based Etisalat, has paid Rs 9.9 crore for missing roll-out deadline in four circles. The company, however, stated that it was paying the penalty "under protest."

Uninor, a joint venture between another realty player Unitech and Telenor of Norway, has also made payment but did not disclose the amount of penalty.

Uninor had said that various factors, including delay in clearances required for each site, new last minute pre-launch testing requirements and new equipment security clearance processes, came in the way of roll-out and were beyond the company's control.

Sistema-Shyam, a CDMA mobile operator, has also paid about Rs 11 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards missing the roll-out obligations.

All operators are given 15-days time to respond to DoT's notice for paying penalty. The DoT is hoping to get more money in the next few days when the 15-day period would lapse in the case of other service providers.

As per the conditions of licence, the licencees are required to roll out the services in 90 per cent of the service area in metros and 10 per cent in district headquarters within 12 months from the date of award of licences.

Total penalty cannot exceed Rs 7 crore per licensing area and the telecom companies get 52 weeks before their licences are cancelled.

[Honest 836]

DoT collects Rs 93 cr penalty from new operators: Sibal

6 Jan l The Economic Times l New Delhi

The government has collected Rs 93 crore penalty from new telecom operators for missing the network roll-out deadline, even as some operators have approached the appellate tribunal TDSAT seeking a stay on it.

"We have received Rs 93 crore from new operators. The total demand is Rs 219 crore," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

Uninor, a joint venture between Unitech and Norway's Telenor , has paid the penalty but under protest and has approached TDSAT seeking stay on such drive by the Department of Telecom saying the delay was from the government side.

The TDSAT has reserved the order on Uninor's petition. On the issue of forming Joint Parliamentary Committee, as demanded by the Opposition, Sibal said "it (the demand for JPC) was absurd. The government has given several alternatives to the Opposition but they never moved even an inch."

He, however, exuded confidence that Budget would be presented by the Government without any hassle.

"We will bring out the truth before the people about the entire telecom issue since 2001," he said.

Earlier, Sibal had quantified revenue loss of Rs 1.43 lakh crore to the exchequer in 2001 due to change in policy by the then NDA regime by switching over to revenue share regime from fixed licence fee scenario.

Asked which are the operators who have paid penalty, the Minister said Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom, Uninor, Sistema-Shyam and Aircel are among the service providers who have paid the liquidated damages (penalty).