Airtel gets relief but with riders

OUR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

Mixed verdict New Delhi, April 11: The Supreme Court today barred Bharti Airtel from adding new 3G subscribers in circles where it did not hold licences even as it turned down Reliance Communications' plea to stop the services altogether, saying, "Even a rickshawallah has a mobile in this country. We don't want to disturb services." The apex court also asked the telecom department "not to take coercive steps" on the Rs 350-crore penalty imposed on Airtel for allegedly illegally providing 3G services. Today's order will enable Airtel to continue 3G services in Haryana, Calcutta, UP East, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh though it will not be able to bring in new customers. In al these seven circles, Airtel does not have a 3G licence but offers the service under roaming pacts with operators who have the licence. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and justices Anil Dave and Vikramjit Sen passed the order on an application filed by Airtel challenging a division bench order of the Delhi high court which restrained the company from providing 3G services in the seven circles as mandated by the department of telecom (DoT). The apex court sought the responses of the parties concerned within four weeks and posted the matter for hearing on May 9. The DoT had asked Airtel to stop the 3G services on the grounds that they were " illegal sub-letting". The company claimed it was well within its rights and the licence granted to it provided room for such roaming pacts. "No single operator can win in every circle. Hence, such intra-circle arrangements were a must to ensure seamless continuity," senior counsel Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, appearing for Airtel, told the apex court. Senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for Reliance, countered by saying his client had lost as much as Rs 5,000 crore from 3G services despite paying huge licence fees, while Airtel stepped into the market by hitching on to other service providers — Vodafone and Idea — through roaming pacts. While Idea and Vodafone have joined Bharti in the appeal, Singhvi questioned how Reliance could join the litigation and leapfrog into the row between the DoT and the company when it was not a party to the case in the first instance. He argued that "intra-circle bilateral roaming agreements between universal access service licensees are not barred". http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130412/jsp/business/story_16776311.jsp#.UWgSnvKIlgg