The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to cancel one of the two mobile permits held by Idea Cellular for Punjab, say news reports.
This is expected to have no impact on the operators? customers as its second permit for the Punjab region is not operational. Idea Cellular holds overlapping mobile permits in six circles after its acquisition of Spice Communication in October 2008.
Prior to this, DoT had earlier issued a show-cause notice to Idea Cellular for failing to rollout services in Punjab on one of its permits, and it decided to terminate the license as the operator did not respond to this notice within the 60-day period.
Also, DoT has decided to seek legal opinion on Idea Cellular’s move to merge the national and international permits held by Spice Communications with itself. This comes despite the findings of the DoT’s internal wings that the company was in full compliance with all rules and satisfied all the eligible conditions.
