The Department of Telecom will ask telecom operators to terminate 3G roaming arrangement on grounds that it was against the licence condition.

Top DoT officials said that the notices to the operators have been signed and will be sent to the operators soon. Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India had entered into a roaming deal whereby they were offering 3G services in areas where they did not have spectrum.

Tata Teleservices and Aircel had also entered into a similar arrangement but scrapped their agreement after DoT raised concerns.

DoT’s action was expected because three internal wings and the telecom regulator had held the roaming arrangement as illegal.

The Communications and IT Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, had also earlier said that the operators will not be allowed to offer the services under existing laws. Earlier, the operators, including Tata Teleservices, had written a letter to the Communications and IT Minister to either permit 3G roaming or refund the money paid for spectrum.

3G operators had to enter into roaming agreements because none of the companies won pan-Indian spectrum during last year’s auctions. The current licence rules allow operators to go in for roaming agreements to enable users to get seamless coverage as they move from one circle to another.

But, in the case of 3G services, operators are selling connections even where they do not have spectrum. This has been held illegal by all the wings of the DoT, including the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing and the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring unit.

The telecom regulator had said that such an arrangement was not only causing loss to the national exchequer but also affecting the quality of 3G services offered to consumers. DoT officials said that a penalty may be imposed on the operators for violating licence conditions.

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