NEW DELHI: The telecom department on Friday issued final unified licence
guidelines which, among others, will allow mobile phone companies to enter into roaming pacts in the same or another service area irrespective of the spectrum band held or technology used. However, companies will not be allowed to acquire any customers where they do not hold requisite licences since it would amount to spectrum sharing which isn't allowed, the new unified licence (UL) rules said. The guidelines on roaming seek to clear the regulatory cloud hanging over roaming pacts, specifically like the ones signed by telecom majors Bharti Airtel,
Idea CellularBSE -5.26 % and Vodafone India which inked agreements that allowed them to offer 3G services in areas where they didn't have a licence.
The telecom department barred such pacts, and the matter is currently being heard in the Supreme Court and the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
The roaming rules emerge from the apex court interim order that allowed
Bharti AirtelBSE 0.29 % to continue to offer 3G services to customers they had already acquired in circles where they didn't have a licence, but barred it from acquiring new 3G customers in those areas, a senior official from the department of telecommunications (DoT) told ET, asking not to be named.
The much-awaited new UL system, which will replace the existing United Access Service Licence (UASL) regime, allows telecom operators to offer any services under one permit. Under the UASL system, operators needed separate licences for each service.
The UL is the first piece in the overall effort of preparing the industry for the next round of growth, telecom secretary MF Farooqui told ET. "Other matching pieces - merger and acquisition norms, spectrum trading etc - will create a new
environment that will make the industry ready to move to data. We have to recognise that technology is moving fast, leading to
convergence," he said.
The UL guidelines, which will be notified within 10 days, also bars cross-holding between mobile phone companies, a move that is set to impact Vodafone India's holding of about 5% in the country's largest mobile phone company Bharti Airtel. Vodafone India is India's second largest.
The government said that no licensee or its promoters can directly or indirectly hold any stake in another licensee company that holds spectrum in the same service area. Present norms allow mobile phone companies to hold up to 10% equity in another operator in the same circle.
Companies having arrangements contrary to these guidelines have been given a year to comply. "The new norms will create complete independence between operators and more transparency," Prashant Singhal of consultancy form E&Y said. India also asked telecom companies to allow greater access to security agencies to monitor phone conversations. Spectrum has been de-linked from licence which will be available for an entry fee of 15 crore, which is far lower than 1,658 crore that mobile phone companies paid for obtaining nationwide mobile permits that came bundled with airwaves till 2008. Airwaves will be sold through auction.
The licensee will also have to pay a yearly fee that will be 8% of annual gross revenue for the term of the license which is 20 years from the time of migration to the UL regime. The extension would be irrespective of the validity of the existing license period. Companies will be able to move to the UL system even when licences get renewed.
For instance, companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Loop Mobile's licences in the 900 MHz band are due for renewal in November 2014. Companies such as Videocon Telecommunications, Uninor and
Sistema Shyam Teleservices that won spectrum last November and this March via auctions will need shift to UL now. In case a company is merging with or acquiring another that has not migrated to the new regime, the merged entity will give an undertaking for migration prior to the merger or acquisition.
Licences for specific services will also be offered under the new regime. However, taking a full unified licence will be more beneficial as a social networking and messaging company like Nimbuzz will be able to offer voice services to its customers.
