RAJYASABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2693
TO BE ANSWERED ON 26TH AUGUST, 2011
Violation of Rollout Obligation
2693. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:
Will the Minister of Communications AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:
(a) Whether TRAI, in its letter dated 18 November, 2010, had listed 69 licensees against whom action must be taken ranging from penalties to termination of licences for violation of fall out obligations;
(b) If SO, the detail s thereof, licensee-wise;
(c) The details of DoT officials responsible for issuing such show cause notices on a routine basis and the process adopted after receiving TERIM cell reports, etc.;
(d) Whether DoT had refused to take action consistent with TRAI's aforesaid letter and had again referred the matter back to TRAI; and
(e) If so, reasons for such difference of opinion between TRAI and DoT?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI MILIND DEORA)
(a) & (b) Sir, TRAI vide its letters dated 18th November 2010 recommended for cancellation of 38 Unified Access Service (VAS) licenses as per license conditions and to seriously consider the cancellation of another 31 VAS license s after legal examination in view of non-utilization of spectrum and resultant loss of revenue to exchequer, in addition to imposition of Liquidated Damage (LD) on various licensees as per license conditions. The list of 69 such Licensees is enclosed as Annexure,
(c) DoT officials posted in the Access Services (AS) cell along with the officials posted in TERM cells, Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing and License Finance (LF) cells examine and compliance of rollout obligations as per license conditions. Examination of the compliance of roll out obligation as per license conditions is a continuous process and following are the major steps in this process:
• Information regarding date of allocation of startup spectrum, to each Licensee is obtained from Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing.
• Details of registration by licensees with TERM cells for rollout coverage testing along with each Base Transceiver Station (BTS) detail are obtained from TERM cells as per license conditions.
• Based on the information received from TERM Cells, again the details related to Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation (SACFA) clearance for calculation of average SACFA delay period are obtained from WPC wing with respect to BTSs which are offered as part of coverage testing.
• Based on the combined information received from WPC Wing and TERM cells, the delay if any in compliance of rollout obligations is worked out and Liquidated Damages are calculated in AS cell.
• The above mentioned complete details are submitted to LF cell of DoT for further examination and vetting.
• Based on the vetted data, the demand notices for imposition of LD and show cause notices for termination of licenses as the case may be for individual license are prepared and submitted for approval of Hon'ble Minister of Communications & Information Technology (MoC & IT) through proper channel of submission.
• Legal cell of the DoT vets the notices from legal point of view before issue.
• After final approval, officials of AS cell of the rank of Under Secretary or above issues the notices to concerned licensees.
(d) to (e) DoT after examination of the recommendations of TRAI as per the UAS License conditions in consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice came to a prima facie conclusion that 8 licenses are liable for cancellation out of 69 licenses mentioned in part (b) above.
Since meeting the roll-out obligations is not linked with the number of subscribers in the network or the number of BTSs deployed, as the number of STSs may vary according to the area to be covered in a selected District Head Quarter (DHQ)/town, the Government came to a prima facie conclusion that TRAI recommendations may need modifications. The reference was sent back to TRAI for its reconsideration as per provision of TRAl Act.
Annexure |
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Sl. No. |
Name Of The Service Area |
Name Of Licensee |
Category As Per TRAI Recommendation |
Date Of Issue Of Demand Notices For Imposition Of LD |
Date Of Issue Of Show Cause Notice For Cancellation Of Licenses |
1 |
Gujarat |
Aircel Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-20 10 |
31-03-2011 |
2 |
Rajasthan |
Aircel Ltd. |
C2 |
28-12-2010 |
31-03-2011 |
3 |
Bihar |
Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. |
B2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
4 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd. |
B2 |
30-12-2010 |
|
5 |
Haryana |
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. |
C2 |
14-01-2011 |
2/6/2011 |
6 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. |
C2 |
28-12-2010 |
2/6/2011 |
7 |
Punjab |
Dishnet Wireless Ltd. |
C2 |
23-12-2010 |
2/6/2011 |
8 |
Andhra Pradesh |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
9 |
Delhi |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
19-01-2010 |
7/3/2011 |
10 |
Gujarat |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
11 |
Haryana |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
12 |
Karnataka |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
13 |
Kerala |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
19-01-2011 |
|
14 |
Maharashtra |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
15 |
Mumbai |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
7/3/2011 |
16 |
Punjab |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
17 |
Rajasthan |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
18 |
Tamil Nadu ( (Including Chennai Service Area) |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
19 |
Uttar Pradesh (East) |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
20 |
Uttar Pradesh (West) |
Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
21 |
Andhra Pradesh |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
22 |
Assam |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
23 |
Bihar |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
24 |
Gujarat |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
|
|
25 |
Haryana |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
B2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
26 |
Himachal Pradesh |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
27 |
Jam mu & Kashmir |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D3 |
28-12-2010 |
|
28 |
Karnataka |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D4 |
14-12-2010 |
|
29 |
Kerala |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D5 |
28-12-2010 |
|
30 |
Kolkata |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
31 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
32 |
Maharashtra |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
Sl. No. |
Name Of The Service Area |
Name Of Licensee |
Category As Per TRAI Recommendation |
Date Of Issue Of Demand Notices For Imposition Of LD |
Date Of Issue Of Show Cause Notice For Cancellation Of Licenses |
33 |
North East |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
34 |
Orissa |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
B2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
35 |
Punjab |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
A2 |
|
|
36 |
Rajasthan |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
B2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
37 |
Tamil Nadu (including Chennai Service Area) |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
38 |
Uttar Pradesh (East) |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
39 |
Uttar Pradesh (West) |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
40 |
West Bengal |
Loop Telecom Ltd. |
D2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
41 |
Andhra Pradesh |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
42 |
Assam |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
5/4/2011 |
43 |
Gujarat |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
44 |
Himachal Pradesh |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
45 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
46 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
47 |
North East |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
48 |
Orissa |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
49 |
Punjab |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
50 |
Uttar Pradesh (East) |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
51 |
Uttar Pradesh (West) |
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. |
D2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
52 |
Assam |
Unitech Wireless (East) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
53 |
North East |
Unitech Wireless (East) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
54 |
Haryana |
Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
55 |
Himachal Pradesh |
Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
56 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
Sl. No. |
Name Of The Service Area |
Name Of Licensee |
Category As Per TRAI Recommendation |
Date Of Issue Of Demand Notices For Imposition Of LD |
Date Of Issue Of Show Cause Notice For Cancellation Of Licenses |
57 |
Punjab |
Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
19-01 ·2011 |
|
58 |
Rajasthan |
Unitech Wireless (North) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
59 |
Madhya Pradesh |
Unitech Wireless (West) Pvt. Ltd. |
D2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
60 |
Andhra Pradesh |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
61 |
Bihar |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
28-12-2010 |
|
62 |
Himachal Pradesh |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
63 |
Karnataka |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
14-01-2011 |
|
64 |
Maharashtra |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
65 |
Orissa |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
66 |
Rajasthan |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
23-12-2010 |
|
67 |
Uttar Pradesh (East) |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
06-01-2011 |
|
68 |
Uttar Pradesh (West) |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
14-12-2010 |
|
69 |
West Bengal |
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. |
B2 |
06-01-2011 |
|
Note:
(a) CategoryA2 - Cancellation of licenses needs 10 be seriously considered in view of non-utilization of spectrum and resultant loss of revenue to exchequer. This may however require legal examination.
(b) CategoryB2 - Liquidated damages may be imposed as per license conditions. Besides, cancellation of licenses needs to be seriously considered in view of non-Utilization of spectrum and resultant loss of revenue to exchequer. This may however require legal examination.
(c) CategoryC2 and D2 - Licenses may be cancelled as per license conditions in addition to levy of liquidated damages.