Telcos might end up in soup once again over the 3G roaming pact inspite of the momentary relief they received when TDSAT ruled in their favour saying they need not pay Rs. 1200 Cr fine. Airtel and Vodafone were continuing with their usual 3G Intra Circle Roaming (ICR) pact wherein they share the 3G spectrum with other operators in areas where they do not have 3G. DoT had slapped a huge fine of Rs1200 Crore saying that it violated the licence agreement.
DoT has still not stopped its fight and has come up with a new petition that claims the ICR pact is causing a huge revenue loss for the DoT.
Telecom Talk Perspective
We feel that for once the government bodies should shift the focus from revenue generation and try to analyse the big picture-taking into consideration the consumer's point of view. Consumers would be hit badly if the ICR pact is cancelled and the chances are you might be disconnected from Mobile data whilst traveling. Considering the infancy of the mobile data sector in India and the roaring growth both in terms of increased subscribers base and data volume the governing bodies should pave way for increased growth and in later stages can focus on increased monetization.
