Telecom tribunal TDSAT bars govt action against 3G pacts of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Essar

NEW DELHI: Telecom tribunal TDSAT barred the telecom ministry from taking “coercive” action against telecom companies that entered into 3G roaming agreements, offering them temporary respite. The ministry on Friday issued notices to Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Essar and two others, asking them to immediately stop 3G services in areas where they do not have permission to offer the high speed data services.

The telcos jointly appealed to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal against the order on Friday. The tribunal has set the next date for hearing the case on January 3, 2012. The roaming agreements allowed each telecom company to use the other's 3G network. Bharti, Idea and Vodafone entered into one agreement while Tata and Aircel forged the other.

None of the telcos could acquire pan-India permits in all 22 telecoms in government auctions held last year. They spent billions of dollars in acquiring these permits. “Till (the) next date of hearing, respondent (DoT) would not take any coercive actions against these operators to enforce the order of December 23, 2011,” TDSAT Bench headed by its chairperson Justice SB Sinha said.