11 telecom cos pay up fee

The companies which have paid the fee represent nearly 40 per cent of the total 27 operators in cellular metro 8 operators, non-metro 14 operators and basic circles 5 operators.

Hutchinson Max and BPL, the two cellular operators in the Mumbai circle have paid Rs 6.25 crore and Rs 5.70 crore, respectively. Both the service providers in Delhi, Bharti Cellular and Sterling Cellularhave paid Rs 6.25 crore and Rs 4.18 crore respectively.

Usha and Modi Telstra, the cellular service providers in Calcutta circle, paid Rs 0.23 crore and Rs 0.91 crore part payment respectively, while Skycel and RPG have paid up Rs 1.27 crore and Rs 0.62 crore, respectively, for the Chennai circle.

In the non-metro circles, Hexacom, the cellular service provider for the North-East and Rajasthan made a part payment of Rs 1.11 crore total outstanding Rs 11.78 crore, while RPG paid Rs 0.77 crore towards its Madhya Pradesh licence.

Out of the five basic service providers, the Sunil Mittal promoted Bharti Telenet paid Rs 4.15 crore for the Madhya Pradesh licence, making it the only basic service provider to pay up.

Commenting on the payments, top DoT officials said,quot;the ministers tough approach has paid resultsquot;. Discounting reports regarding the prime minister8217;o Office8217;s involvement in the stand-off, sources said that the quot;unionised approachquot; adopted by the industry had failed to yieldresults.

quot;After all, reputed industrial houses had bagged licences through a competitive bidding process earlier, only to join forces later to escape payments,quot; said sources adding that today8217;s payments had made it clear that the government8217;s stand was justified.

Sources told The Indian Express that the payments had strengthened the hands of Jagmohan for taking action against those who have failed to pay up. Jagmohan will take a final view on the issue of defaulters in a meeting with his officials on Tuesday.

Sources said that the minister was contemplating strict action against defaulters and was in no mood to go back on the enforcement of contractual obligations. It now seems probable that either the bank guarantees of defaulters would be revoked or their licences would be cancelled.

Private operators have been demanding one-time entry fee for basic and cellular services besides a revenue-sharing formula after a certain period. The government says all operators must pay up the amount as part ofcontractual agreements.

Bharti Enterprises said that Bharti Cellular and Bharti Telenet had paid the licence fee quot;under protest and on advice from its foreign partnersquot;. The company has made the payment for cellular in Delhi and the basic services licence of Madhya Pradesh.

quot;As far as the licence fee is concerned, there are legitimate demands of the industry which have been forwarded to the government at various levels and stages,quot; the company said in a statement. It has reiterated that the issue be resolved expeditiously.

The statement further said said that while Bharti and other Indian and foreign telecom companies had frozen investment decisions, a number of large foreign operators had walked away after investing significant amounts in India.

Listing other demands, Bharti Enterprises said that a strong regulator must be put into place, with the help of a evised ordinance, in order to move the telecom sector forward.

The company has also demanded a clear policy on MTNL/DoT providing services inthe Value Added Services VAS segment especilly cellular telephony and a clear assurance for non-discriminatory licensing regime between private and basic operators.

The new tariffs must be announced at the earliest and must be made effective from April, 1 so as to provide clarity to investors, bankers, operators and other interested parties.

Amendment of the gazette notification, which is overdue, to enable all private operators to have unhindered access to laying cables and building towers. The operators are facing huge insurmountable problems in the field due to lack of clarity in this respect.