New Delhi: Amendments to licence agreements of existing operators of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have been approved by the Telecom Ministry to harmonise them with spectrum auction rules of November 2012, sources said.
"Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has approved amendments to the licences of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular on June 6," a DoT source said. "NIA (Notice Inviting Application) provides for amendment to the existing licence agreement of the successful bidders. Accordingly licence agreement of the existing licencees (Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular) who have won spectrum in 2012 auction need to be amended to incorporate terms and conditions," the source said.
The condition for using spectrum won in November auction are viewed as more liberal compared to spectrum allocated to telecom operators under previous permits. As per current norms, the spectrum won by telecom operators can be shared with other telecom operator holding permit to provide services in the same area. ...
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11:10 PM, Jun 11, 2013
JPC chairman PC Chacko has refuted the allegations made by former telecom minister A Raja saying the latter was given heard by the panel before the draft report was prepared. Raja has alleged that the JPC prepared its report without hearing him. ...
07:20 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Hours after he reiterated his allegation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was aware of all the decisions taken in connection with the allocation of 2G spectrum, former telecom minister A Raja on Monday attacked the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for not allowing him to depose before it. The JPC is examining the 2G spectrum allocation. "This is not the way the JPC is expected to function," said Raja....
07:13 PM, Apr 22, 2013
Lone bidder Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) on Monday bid for eight circles in the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services. The second round of auction is underway and it is expected that it will end by the third round, which could be the shortest online sale of radiowaves in terms of time consumed. ...
11:00 AM, Mar 11, 2013
New Delhi: After a dismal 2G spectrum auction, the government once again defended itself questioning the 2G scam loss figure quoted by CAG and also said that it intends to hold another auction before March 31, 2013. "The intent is to try and have another auction before 31st March. We will discuss how to move forward and take a call on it," Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said. As against...
03:01 PM, Nov 16, 2012
New Delhi: India offered to grant 4G broadband spectrum to Qualcomm Inc on Tuesday, nearly two years after the US chipmaker paid $1 billion in an auction, but cut its spectrum usage period due to a delay in getting an internet service license. India typically grants radio airwaves for a period of 20 years. In Qualcomm's case, the telecoms ministry cut the validity of the spectrum by 18 months and...
11:42 AM, May 09, 2012
New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday accused his erstwhile Telecom Secretary DS Mathur in a Delhi court of deposing "falsely" against him under the fear of prosecution by the CBI in the 2G spectrum allocation case. DMK MP Raja, who is the prime accused in the case, alleged Mathur agreed to become a prosecution witness as he feared arrest in the case. The former bureaucrat, however, denied...
08:21 PM, Apr 17, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with a June 2 deadline when 122 licenses for 2G spectrum will stand quashed, Government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court stating that it will impact over 69 million mobile users as the auction process for radiowaves will take at least 400 days. The Telecom Ministry virtually sought extension of time for cancellation of licenses in its application for clarification of the apex court's February 2 verdict...
08:15 PM, Mar 01, 2012
New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday welcomed the 2G trial court's order on P Chidambaram, dismissing the plea against him by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy. Welcoming the verdict, Mukherjee said, "Someone was unfairly persecuted. Even in the Supreme Court's order, it was never mentioned that the (then) finance minister's (P Chidambaram) directive was ignored. Rather, it was the Finance Ministry that was mentioned by the SC." Meanwhile,...
03:02 PM, Feb 04, 2012
New Delhi: CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu said on Saturday that the 2G trial court's order dismissing Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy's plea against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in the scam was not the final word. "The final word has not been said. We want the prime minister to make a statement." Harking back to the Supreme Court's order striking down 122 licences, the Communist leader said that the apex...
02:33 PM, Feb 04, 2012
New Delhi: For the second time in as many months, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday met chiefs of leading operators, including Sunil Bharti Mittal, Anil Ambani and Vodafone's Marten Pieters, to discuss various contentious issues such as spectrum pricing, allocation and one-time fee. "All the operators conveyed their views on various issues which are also a part of regulator TRAI's recommendations on 'Spectrum Pricing and Framework'. The minister will...
06:24 PM, Jan 24, 2012
New Delhi: The telecom ministry on Tuesday questioned the jurisdiction of telecom tribunal TDSAT on entertaining the petitions of five telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, challenging the government's directive to stop 3G roaming agreements. Additional Solicitor General A S Chandiok appearing for the Department of Telecom (DoT) told the tribunal that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the petitions which are altering the terms of telecom licence. Terming...
12:56 PM, Jan 03, 2012
New Delhi: The Telecom Ministry may issue demand notices of Rs 55.67 lakh to RCom and Bharti Airtel for violating the licence agreement by registering new subscribers without proper verification in the Delhi service area. "The proper verification has not been carried out by the service providers at the time of providing service to these subscribers. Hence, Bharti Airtel has violated the terms and conditions. Therefore on the ground stated,...
11:16 AM, Dec 20, 2011
New Delhi: A defensive Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday clarified that asking social media websites to screen alleged derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory content about religious figures and Indian leaders is not censorship. Sibal claimed that the Government is trying to supervise content on the Internet that can hurt religious sentiments. "On September 5, I noticed certain images and statements on the platform of Google, Facebook, YouTube. The subject matter...
01:10 PM, Dec 06, 2011
New Delhi: In what could be a major relief for Reliance and Swan telecom, the Law Ministry has trashed attempts by the Telecom Ministry to cancel the latter's licences. In fact the Union Law Minister, Salman Khurshid, has said that it is an attempt to trip the telecom operator. A Telecom Ministry draft show-cause notice on canceling Swan's licences has been turned down by the Law Ministry. CNN-IBN has accessed...
04:24 PM, Nov 08, 2011
New Delhi: The Telecom Department will start allocation of 2G spectrum to operators soon after its decision on pricing of radio waves and priority list, which it expects to finalise in next 2-3 months. "We will like certainly do it (spectrum allocation) as quickly as possible but there are two things that are required for all spectrum to be allocated to any of the company," Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar told....
05:53 PM, Oct 23, 2011
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking to reporters on board his plane on the way back from New York, admitted that the decision to keep the spectrum pricing issue from the purview of a Group of Ministers in 2006 was done on the word of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran. It was a move that made many ask if the Prime Minister had acted under pressure from his crucial...
07:25 AM, Sep 28, 2011
New Delhi: The Telecom Ministry had opposed the S-band spectrum deal between Devas Multimedia and Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) commercial arm Antrix in 2007, two years before ISRO asked for a review. In an exclusive interview to Network18, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said ISRO had no power to allocate spectrum. "How can they handover the current spectrum which is to be handed over by the Dot? Spectrum allocation is...
03:27 PM, Feb 09, 2011
New Delhi: HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is fast emerging as the Congress's man for all seasons.He has just been handed over charge of the corruption tainted telecom ministry. It is one of the biggest challenge that Kapil Sibal is going to face with the controversial telecom portfolio.Sixty-two year old Sibal has gone from strength to strength with his position as the Minister of State for UPA to taking charge of...
09:32 AM, Nov 17, 2010
No. 2 telecom firm accused of underreporting revenue. ...
03:04 PM, Dec 10, 2009
