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Trai says cancel 69 telecom licenses, DoT agrees to only 8

NEW DELHI: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has decided to move for cancellation of only eight licences for failure of telecom operators to meet rollout obligations, against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indias (Trais) recommendation that 69 licences be cancelled. According to data available till August 28, 2011, only Aircel (two), Dishnet (three), Etisalat (two), and Sistema Shyam (one) were issued show-cause notices for cancellation of licences. Any licence termination can only occur after the conclusion of a long legal battle. Apart from this, since companies have got away with a large majority of their licences intact, the impact on their business is negligible. Consumers are also largely insulated from this move, as the violation signifies lack of network and therefore, subscribers. In any event, with number portability, the few subscribers, if any, can easily migrate to the 10-13 other operators in the same circle. Documents with TOI reveal strong reluctance on DoTs part to cancel more than these eight licenses, based on disagreement with the Trai on the very definition of rollout obligations. The telecom regulator had made statutory recommendations under Section 11 of the Trai Act and DoT has been grappling with the recommendations for over nine months. If this confrontation between DoT and Trai continues, the holders of the remaining 61 licences are likely to get away by paying penalties as opposed to licence cancellation.

                                                                                                               
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