The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today asked Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to cancel CMTS/UAS licences given to telecom operators including Cheers Etisalat DB (Swan- Cheers Mobile), Loop Telecom, Uninor, Videocon, MTS (Sistema-Shyam) and Aircel that have not met network roll-out conditions set by the authority.
TRAI has recommended cancellation of 20 licenses of Loop Telecom, 15 of Etisalat DB, 11 of MTS/Sistema Shyam, 10 licenses of Videocon, 8 of Uninor, 10 of and 5 licenses of Aircel.
Earlier The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report revealed that most of new operators, who obtained the initial 4.4 Mhz spectrum in 81 service areas during the period Apr 2008 to Jan 2009, failed to roll out the commercial telecom services in any service area till Dec 31st 2009. The report also slamming the Telecom Ministry for irregularity and impropriety in giving licences to new players in 2008, causing a loss of a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
According to the CMTS/UAS licencing conditions, the licencees/operator were required to roll out the telecom/mobile services in 90% of service areas/circles in metros and 10% in district headquarters within 12 months of the date of award of licenees.
