Regulator asks Telecom Department to speed up decision on Airtel-Loop deal

The telecom regulator has asked the Department of Telecom to speed up its decision on whether or not to allow transfer of mobile subscribers from Loop to Airtel’s network in Mumbai. TRAI has said that since Loop’s licence is set to expire in November, DoT must take a view on the deal in the interest of consumers.

In June, TRAI had written to the DoT saying that the transfer of subscribers should be allowed only through the mobile number portability route after Airtel had announced that it would acquire Loop Mobile’s three million subscribers in Mumbai along with its infrastructure, 400 towers.

According to the regulator, subscribers’ consent has to be taken before they can be switched to another operator’s network.

However, the DoT’s initial view was in favour of allowing the deal on grounds that there was no bar on a slump sale under the existing licence conditions. But no final decision was taken due to the opposition by TRAI. The matter was referred to the legal advisor who opined that the ₹700-crore deal between Airtel and Loop can go ahead if there is no ban on a slump sale in the telecom licence conditions. The problem is that the legal advisor did not give a clear cut view and left it to the DoT to interpret the licence conditions.

Loop Mobile’s 20-year licence expires in November and the company was unable to win back spectrum to continue services. Airtel, on the other hand, won spectrum in Mumbai in the last auction round. The slump-sale deal with Airtel, therefore, came as a relief for Loop subscribers, who were assured of service continuity.

Countering TRAI’s observation, Loop said that the deal in fact saved the subscribers from going through the MNP process.

Loop argued that a similar transaction had been allowed when Norway’s Telenor shifted assets and subscribers from its earlier joint venture with Unitech to a new company, Telewings.