The UAE-based Etisalat on Wednesday said that it was shutting down its Indian operations following the Supreme Court's decision to cancel its licences. The decision was taken at the company's board meeting. Etisalat was operating through a joint venture with Dynamix Balwas Group in 15 circles and had 1.67 million subscribers as on December.
The company added that it will make a decision on its future participation in the Indian market when there is clarity on the auction process and regulatory certainty.
“The decision has been taken in order to protect the interests of all stakeholders and to avoid incurring further costs,” said a company statement. Etisalat had already written off $827 million in Indian operations for booking impairment charge.
Earlier, Bahrain Telecom (Batelco) had announced its decision to exit STel, the joint venture company with the Sivasankaran Group. STel has since asked its subscribers to shift to other mobile operators through number portability. Telenor has also decided to dump its joint venture with Unitech Ltd, although the Norwegian firm said it will float a new entity to bid for 2G spectrum in the upcoming auction.