DoT slaps notices on Etisalat, Idea over non-rollout

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has asked Etisalat's Indian mobile joint venture and Idea Cellular to respond to the government on proposals to cancel some licences for failing to meet network rollout requirements. 

Telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar said the government had issued notices to the two companies asking them to explain within 60 days why their licences should not be cancelled. 

The move comes after the Telecom Ministry collected over Rs300 crore as penalty from most of the new operators, including Etisalat DB, for not starting services in the stipulated time after getting the licences and spectrum. 

Etisalat DB (earlier Swan Telecom) has been asked to defend its licences in Delhi and Mumbai service areas, while Idea will have to defend its licence in the Punjab service area, Chandrashekhar said. 

Etisalat DB confirmed it had received show cause notices from the telecom ministry. 

The company said it would respond within the 60-day period and would clarify that it had already rolled out commercial operations in all its 15 service areas. 

India's telecoms regulator had recommended cancelling a total 69 telecoms licences of companies for failing to meet network rollout requirements. 

"We are examining the other cases keeping in view the (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's) recommendation and the data we have," Chandrashekhar said.