New Delhi, April 15 :
New Delhi, April 15:
Cellular subscribers of the three Delhi operators-AirTel, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Essar- can continue to enjoy local call status while travelling to Gurgaon for another 10 days.
The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today stayed the department of telecommunications (DoT) order restricting the Delhi metro cellular service coverage within a distance of five kilometres of the Gurgaon telephone system. The stay will continue till the next hearing scheduled for April 24.
Bharti Televentures had requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to intervene following the recent directive by the department of telecommunications, restricting cellular service coverage in the Delhi circle to within of five kilometres of the Gurgaon telephone system.
According the DoT directive, when a customer crosses the boundary of the Delhi metro circle on the highway to Gurgaon from Delhi, there should be a black patch which will belong to Escotel, and then another patch which will belong to AirTel, Essar and MTNL.
This is because the Gurgaon exchange is deep down in Gurgaon village, and hence a radius of 5 km will not include the said black patch. This black patch houses colonies like Sushant Lok, DLF, DLF corporate parks and Udyog Vihar.
Manoj Kohli, executive director and CEO Escotel, had claimed that 'as per the licence conditions, Gurgaon was always a part of the Haryana licence.'
Bharti officials argue that cellular customers in Delhi who reside in these localities were forced to avail of roaming
facilities in order to remain
connected.