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In a major jolt for Bharti Airtel, the Supreme Court today stopped Airtel from extending intra-circle roaming (ICR) facility in 7 circles where it does not have spectrum.
However, "Airtel can continue 3G services in the zones for its existing customers," said Supreme Court . The bench also directed the government not to take coercive steps on the issue.
Last week, Airtel filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order banning 3G intra-circle roaming in seven circles where it does not have 3G license.
On 4th April, a division bench of Delhi High Court Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice VK Jain have vacated the stay order granted to the Airtel by its single judge bench on March 15 from stopping 3G intra-circle roaming in seven circles where it does not have spectrum.
Senior advocate Abhishekh Singhvi, appearing for Airtel, said the division bench of the high court was wrong in entertaining the plea of Reliance as it was not a party before the single judge.
Singhvi questioned the locus standi of Reliance in the matter and also said the high court's decision will affect a large number of consumers who have Airtel's service.
On the other hand, Vodafone's counsel Gopal Subramanian supported Airtel saying both the telecom companies have roaming pact and others should not have any objection.
However, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Reliance Communication, said that what Airtel has been doing for two years was completely illegal as it did not have license for 3G license in seven circles, including Kolkata where it was selling the 'SIM' cards for 3G mobile connections.
On March 15, the department of telecommunications (DoT) had sent a notice to Airtel to stop 3G services roaming in areas where it did not have spectrum within 72 hours. And airtel was also asked to pay a penalty of Rs 350 crore (for each circle Rs 50 crore) for violating licence conditions.
The vacation of the stay order followed a petition filed by business rival Reliance Communications, which pleaded before the court that its business was getting affected by Airtel's move.
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Airtel is doing its 3G roaming business where Airtel did not win spectrum in the 2010 auction.Airtel was offering 3G services in the seven circles by signing intra-circle roaming agreements with Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd.
On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Indian government Rs 12,295 crore (US$2.3 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles-- Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir.
Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharastra & Goa and Kolkata circles through an agreement with Vodafone and in Gujarat through an agreement with Idea. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in 15 out of 22 circles in India.
On 24 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore, Karnataka, its largest circle by revenue. With this launch, Airtel became the third private operator (fifth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Tata Docomo and Reliance Communications.On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G services were launched in Kerala's 3 largest cities - Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012.