Govt disallows Airtel, Vodafone, Idea 3 G roaming pact

The 3G roaming pact between Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone has attracted the wrath of the Telecom Ministry. As reported by PTI, the companies have been directed to discontinue their 3G roaming agreements and may be fined for the same. According to telecom regulator TRAI, Law Ministry and Department of Telecomm (DoT), the companies have violated the telecom licenses.

“The decision has been taken that this (3G roaming pacts) is in violation of terms and conditions of the license. Will be issuing notices asking them (operators) to stop their service with immediate effect. But on penalty, no decision has been taken yet,” Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar said.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular had entered into a mutual agreement for providing 3G roaming network on a pan-India basis. DoT had said the 3G roaming union among telecom companies would lead to a major loss of revenue to the government. A similar arrangement also had Tata Teleservices and Aircel jointly offering services in six circles, although, the plan was, later, abandoned.

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