The Department of Telecom has asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to terminate roaming arrangements by 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Notices have also been sent to Tata Teleservices and Aircel but the two have already scrapped their agreement. This comes after the department took a decision that the roaming pacts were illegal.
“It has been concluded that provision of the services by you, which are presently available by virtue of 3G spectrum in 2.1 Ghz band only, to your customers through intra service area roaming arrangement is not permissible,” the DoT notice to the operators stated.
Bharti Airtel said that the order was arbitrary and violates principles of natural justice. The operator also questioned DoT's motive in issuing the 24-hour deadline on Friday evening after the courts closed for the weekend.
“It is painful to note how the action by DoT has been delayed till Friday evening fully knowing that any legal recourse needs court working days. To add to our and customers' dismay compliance is being forced within 24 hours without stating why this haste!,” Airtel said in a statement. The three operators have moved the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal seeking a stay order. Industry sources said that the tribunal may hold a special session on Saturday to hear the appeal.
The operators said that even if they agree to terminate the pact it will take time because to pull back a strategic deployment like intra-circle roaming, expert intervention is required as multiple aspects of CRM, network and IT are at play. More importantly customers have to be informed and their financial commitment towards the service has to be protected, as per the regulation.
“We are shocked at the arbitrary decision taken by the Department of Telecom (DoT) to issue instructions to stop intra circle roaming for 3G services. This is despite DoT having clarified on the matter prior to the 3G spectrum auction in 2010,” Airtel said.
The operators said the DoT decision sends a wrong signal to the entire business community looking for a stable and transparent policy regime.