Top telco chiefs seek PM’s intervention to sort out roaming issue

With the 3G roaming pact becoming a contentious issue between the telecom ministry and telcos, CEOs of top telecom firms, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the matter.

"We seek your most urgent intervention to ensure that contract and promises are honoured, otherwise the reputation of an acclaimed, transparent auction, will be harmed irreparably," they wrote in joint letter to the prime minister.

The letter was signed by Bharti Enterprises chairman and group CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Vodafone Group Plc CEO Vittorio Colao.

The issue concerns the pact among major service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, for provisioning of 3G roaming network on a pan-India basis.
Other providers, including Tata Teleservices and Aircel, had entered into similar agreements to offer services in six circles.

The agreements among the players are being viewed with suspicion by the department of telecom (DoT), which feels the alliances are not above board and violate the terms and conditions of the third generation (3G) spectrum agreements, which it signed with the operators in June last year.

In their letter to the prime minister, the CEOs have gone even to the extent of demanding that the investment made by the companies in the 3G auction be refunded.