India’s telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today issued directive to Uninor, MTS India (SSTL), Videocon and Tata Teleservices who's licences had quashed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on February 2, 2012, to inform their customers that they would be suspending their GSM and CDMA Mobile services from January 18, 2013.
TRAI gave a 10 days deadline to the these mobile service providers to inform their subscribers about the closer of GSM/ CDMA mobile service in the respective circles and also send text messages or provide this information in writing to all their customers in those circles where they failed to retain spectrum and renew their licences.
Uninor, MTS India, Videocon and Tata Teleservices have a total of 26 million customers in verious circles where they failed to get fresh spectrum or renew their mobile service licence in the recently concluded 2G auctions.
CDMA Operators MTS India (Sistema Shyam Teleservices - Pan India) and Tata Teleservices (in 3 circles) did not participate in the Spectrum auction process.
TRAI's order will be 'Big-Blow for Pure CDMA Operator MTS India as it faces the prospect of mass exodus of its CDMA customers even as the oerator is awaiting the fate of its curative petition in the Supreme Court against its licence cancellation.
Uninor / Telenor who already issued public notice to its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal circles to port-out from its network before 18th January is also trying to approach the DoT seeking an extension of its Mumbai mobile licence beyond January 18 as it is likely to get for 2G spectrum there in the next auction scheduled before 31st March, 2013.
Tata Teleservices (Tata Docomo CDMA), which chose not to bid again for the CDMA airwaves it held in the loss-making telecom circles of Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir, already inform and started the MNP process for its customers in these circles.
