Cash call

New Delhi, Dec. 29 (PTI): New telecom operators, including Etisalat DB, Uninor and MTS, have paid a penalty to the government for missing service rollout deadlines.

“Etisalat DB Telecom has received a communication from the department of telecommunications (DoT) for imposition of liquidated damages towards rollout obligations for the first year for four telecom circles, aggregating Rs 9.9 crore,” the company said in a statement.

“Etisalat DB has made payments for Rs 9.9 crore under protest,” it added.

Uninor, a joint venture between reality major Unitech and Telenor of Norway, has also made payments but did not disclose the amount of penalty. The company said it had “paid under protest”.

“Various factors, including delay in clearances required for each site, new last minute pre-launch testing requirements and new equipment security clearance processes, came in the way of rollout and were beyond our control,” Uninor said in a statement.

It has also requested the DoT to consider these in its assessments. A Uninor statement said that as a serious long-term operator with considerable presence in India, the company intended to continue delivering the benefits of competition to customers in the country.

Besides, sources said Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) had paid a penalty ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 11 crore. The penalty amount could not be confirmed.

Some more operators, including Loop Telecom and Videocon, are also facing action for missing the rollout deadline, but it could not be ascertained if they too have paid a penalty.

Showcause notices

The DoT started issuing showcause notices to telecom companies around December 14 and had given them 15 days to respond.

Sources also said that showcause notices were still being sent out to some operators. Those who were given notices on December 14 were to get back to the government by today.

According to the conditions of licence, the licencees are required to roll out the services in 90 per cent service areas in metros.