STel, a joint venture (JV) between the Chennai-based Siva Group and Bahrain Telecom, has tendered an apology to the Supreme Court for writing to DoT with regard to settling its dispute with the department at a time when the matter was sub judice.

STel, a joint venture (JV) between the Chennai-based Siva Group and Bahrain Telecom, has tendered an apology to the Supreme Court for writing to DoT with regard to settling its dispute with the department at a time when the matter was sub judice. The letter reportedly follows DoT’s directive to the company to stop its mobile services in the Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa circles as it had not installed the necessary security equipment for intercepting calls to check anti-national elements, a claim that S Tel contests. Earlier, S Tel was involved in a dispute with DoT over the latter not allocating licences to it for 16 telecom circles. The company won the case in the Delhi High Court. However, in a fresh affidavit, the company has stated that in view of the dwindling revenue and multiplicity of operators, it needs to rework its rollout strategy.