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

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.