The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, stayed the Centre’s move to prohibit mobile service providers from entering into roaming agreements with other operators for the 3G network.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had introduced a Clause in the letter of intent (LoI) under which it was specified that as per the unified licence, using 3G spectrum of another operator was not permitted.
Issuing notice to DOT, Justice Rajiv Shakdher sought the Ministry’s response within four weeks and stayed the Clause 6 of the LoI. The court passed the order on Idea Cellular’s plea, challenging the government’s move for seven circles where it bought 2G spectrum. As per the rule, “UL (AS) does not permit provisioning of 3G service using the 3G spectrum of any other service provider using any kind of arrangement.”
LoIs were given to service providers who had secured fresh spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in the government auctions held in November last.
