Reliance disconnects Etisalat from its network over dues
24 Jan 2012
Reliance Communications said it had disconnected a joint venture of Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat ETEL.AD and India's DB Group from its network due to non-payment of fees for using its towers.
Etisalat DB said separately that it had been faced with network disruption across India since last Friday, due to a technical issue beyond its control. The company however, did not mention any dispute with Reliance Communications.
Under a 10-year deal signed in 2009, which, according to the companies was worth about $2 billion, Etisalat DB uses Reliance's base stations to provide services across 15 zones in India.
"Despite repeated reminders, payments have been inordinately delayed by EDB (Etisalat DB) without any reasonable cause, leading to the disconnection of services," a Reliance Communications spokesman said in a statement.
Apologising to customers for the service disruptions, Etisalat DB said in a statement that it was working round-the-clock to resolve the issue.
Etisalat DB, with a subscriber base of 1.67 million as of December 2011, is ranked 14th among India's 15 mobile operators.