The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may soon slap a combined fine of $97 million (Rs 477 crore) on both existing and new telecom players if they fail to follow rollout guidelines.
The guidelines and conditions laid down earlier before all the operators say that the licence holders will have to launch the services in a phased manner within the given deadline in some areas.
Those telcos which have managed to get the government’s approval to go ahead with a launch must ensure the availability of services in at least 10 per cent of the districts in that circle within the first year, and 50 per cent of districts within three years of acquiring the licence.Unfortunately, not all operators have yet managed to meet their obligations. Smaller towns and cities have been largely neglected, due to the slow pace of work.
New telecom players which have been granted licences to offer services in 2G spectrum are left with inadequate or no frequency. Existing players have also been demanding more spectrum to usher the growth of their subscriber base.
This crunch in the radio frequencies has been causing great worry for the telcos. The unavailability of required spectrum means poor quality services, with a big increase of call drops causing hindrances in the expansion of their subscriber base.
A senior official with a new entrant told IT Examiner, “The government may impose a fine, but they have to also look at other issues like lack of required spectrum. They have been struggling to get the spectrum released. There are quite a number of new entrants in the telecom industry and we all are looking forward to roll out the services very soon."
Reliance Communications has recently rolled out its GSM service in major cities.