Vodafone India has filed a petition against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in Delhi High Court, over the delay in signing of the unified licence (UL). The delay has occurred due to disagreement between Vodafone and DoT regarding a clause in the licence agreement that prohibits the operator from entering into 3G intra-circle roaming (ICR) pacts.
In its petition, Vodafone has stated that the copy of the unified licence agreement shown to Vodafone on November 3, 2014 had a restrictive clause, which prohibits the operator from offering 3G services through ICR pacts. Subsequently, on November 5, 2014, Vodafone had written to the government seeking removal of the clause from the licence agreement. However, DoT informed the operator that the clause is a conditional compliance and therefore, the request for its removal cannot be accepted.
According to Vodafone the presence of the restrictive clause in ICR is not in line with the verdict given by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in April 2014. TDSAT had overturned the government ban on the operators to offer 3G services through ICR pacts citing the better utilisation of radio frequency airwaves. Thus, the operator has sought for its removal from the unified licence agreement.
DoT has already accepted the company?s applications, conveyed approvals and issued Letters of Intent (LoI). Meanwhile, Vodafone has asserted that having paid more than half the price of spectrum, there should not be any further delay in signing the licence agreement.
Moreover, Vodafone is of the view that the delay in signing the unified licence agreement will lead to disruption of telecom services in the circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Vodafone?s existing unified access service licence (UASL) for these circles is set to expire on November 29, 2014.
