Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected the proposal of Telecom Minister A Raja to refund 3G and BWA spectrum fees of state-owned telecom service providers Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), according to the Business Standard reports. The FM is believed to have cited legal complications to turn down the request.

Both BSNL and MTNL were kept out of auction process and allotted 3G and BWA spectrums much ahead of private players, stipulating that they will pay the fees commensurate with that paid by auction winners. To this end BSNL paid Rs 10186.58 crore for 3G and Rs 8313.8 crore for BWA, while MTNL paid 6564 crore for 3G and Rs 4533.97 crore for BWA. Both PSUs had to avail loans to meet the government deadline for fee payment.

Despite making the payment, both PSUs have been asking for a refund of the amount as they were allotted unremunerative segments, unlike private players, who chose lucrative zones. However, Mr. Mukherjee turned down the proposal for refund of Rs 29,598 crore after a 10-minute meeting with Telecom Minister on Friday. It is believed that the FM was not willing to reconsider the proposal even after Mr. Raja suggested a staggered payment.

The staff unions of both BSNL and MTNL have threatened to go on a three-day strike from 21 September, in the event of rejection of refund proposal. The unions are also planning to follow this up with indefinite strike to make the government accept the request.

Meanwhile, Mr. Raja is said to be working on an alternative proposal to recover the losses suffered by the state-owned telecom providers from providing services in rural areas. The present subsidy that BSNL receives from the Universal Service Obligatory Fund (USOF) towards offering services in rural areas is believed to be insufficient to compensate the losses.

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Ending the impasse that had led to allegations and counter allegations at government level, the Department of Telecom amended its telecom license agreement on Wednesday. The latest license rule stipulates all equipment vendors to share all codes and design details. The revision, which comes into immediate effect, also makes provision for levying hefty fines from defaulters. DoT communicated the revisions in its license pact to all telecom license holders, including state-owned BSNL and MTNL.

The communiqué from DoT continues, “The licensor (DoT) shall have the power to allow inspection, analysis and use by the competent experts designated by the government, the hardware and software designs/codes deposited in the escrow accounts to prevent/detect any security hazards, malware and traps at any time or for any criminal investigation purpose.”

DoT clearly states that in case of security breach after deployment of equipment, the licensee need to pay a penalty of Rs 50 crore and the equipment vendor has to pay a penalty equal to 100% of the contract value.

Another stipulation put forth by DoT for equipment vendors is that the equipment information such as source code (password) and design details need to be kept in an escrow account in encrypted format. This would be used only in case of emergencies like security breach. The amendment is aimed at resolving the issue of alleged ban of Chinese equipment vendors. With this, service providers can utilize Chinese telecom equipments, subject to the penalty clause, which is applicable to all suppliers, Chinese or otherwise.

The new license amendment also necessitates appointment of international-accredited network audit and certification agencies with prior approval of DoT to carryout network auditing and testing. The auditing will be initially limited to core equipments like routers, switches and firewall and related software used by telecom operators.

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On Monday, the TDSAT’s decision that the private telecom companies will have to pay charges to BSNL depending on the distance instead of  the earlier uniform charge of 20 paisa per call has been challenged by the private telecommunication companies at  Supreme Court.

The lobby groups of the private telecom companies  namely Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India  and Cellular Operators Association of India and have files two petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the orders issued by the sector tribunals.

Chief Justice S.H Kapadia who has headed the bench that has heard the petitions has instructed the operators to file the statements of carrier charges between the years November 2005 to March 2009. These statements have been filed with their respective liabilities against state owned BSNL.

The bench which also comprises of Justice Swatanter Kumar and K.S. Radhakrishnan have provided the telecom operators a period of three weeks and said “File statement of liabilities, which are due on each of the members for the relevant period”.

On behalf of BSNL its Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium has affirmed to the apex court that BSNL would not be involved in taking any coercive action against the private telecommunication companies till the next hearing date for not paying up their carrier charges.

It has been informed to the court by Gopal Subramanium, the Solicitor General, that the private companies owe BSNL around Rs 500 crore as charges.

As on May 21, 2010, the TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) has no validated TRAI’s decision to levy uniform charges of 20 paisa per call in intra circles.

However the operators maintain that on May 17, 2006, two letters were sent to TDSAT and the PSU and “wrongly allowed BSNL to levy distance-based carriage charges on the appellant instead of a uniform carriage charge of 20 paisa per minute in case of intra-circle.”

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Vodafone Essar, one of the top mobile service providers in the country launched an eco-friendly solar-powered mobile phone VF 247. At a function held at the Vodafone store in Fort, Mumbai on Tuesday, Marten Pieters, MD and CEO, Vodafone Essar Ltd. unveiled the instrument along with UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP.

“I’m very pleased to help launch Vodafone’s new solar powered handset. It’s the new UK-India economic partnership in action. The handset will get more people connected, paying less and doing their bit for the environment,” said Rt Hon George Osborne MP after the launch.

“Reflecting a strong commitment to the Indian market, Vodafone continues to launch affordable products and services to cater to the differentiated needs of consumers,” Mr. Pieters said. “Vodafone’s solar powered phone is launched for people residing in areas where electric supply is unstable, so that consumers can rely on solar charging to remain connected. This launch is likely to enable more people in rural India to go mobile and thus increase penetration from the current 20%. We will continue to invest to uplift the quality of telecom services and products in India.”

VF 247 comes with an extended solar power battery, which will be immensely useful for rural subscribers who face the problem of erratic electric supply. The phone charges by itself on exposure to ambient light, even inside a room on a normal day, thanks to Sun Boost, the special in-built hardware and software. Eight hours of direct sunlight can fully charge the unit. This would support four hours of talk time or eight days on standby. The solar phone also has all regular features such as color screen, FM radio and a powerful torch light.

Introducing the solar phone will be helpful in boosting Vodafone’s rural network coverage, which stands second nation-wide at 65%. Vodafone also has the second largest subscriber base in India.

Vodafone VF 247 is expected to cost around Rs 1,500, which includes an electronic charger and will be commercially available in India shortly.

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In the coming two to three weeks the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will come up with details regarding the pricing of the 2G spectrum which has been held in excess by the telecom operators.

TRAI had proposed in May this year that telecom operators should pay for the spectrum that has been held by them beyond 6.2 MHz and the prices should be higher and linked to the price of the 3G spectrum.

TRAI chairman Mr. J S Sharma mentioned that “When we gave our recommendations to the government in May, we had said that we are studying the issue. We have not asked for any extension. We expect to give recommendations in 2-3 weeks,” His comments were regarding the linking of the 2G spectrum price with that of 3G.

A majority of the GSM operators are not in favor of linking the 2G spectrum prices with that of 2G and are not willing to pay a onetime charge for the extra spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz held by them. The operators are taking a stand that the spectrum allocations were made in accordance to the policy and no one is holding any extra spectrum.

The TRAI chairman was asked about his views regarding the observations reported by solicitor general Gopal Subramanium which mentioned that the telecom ministry has all rights to change the conditions governing the existing license and that recommendations made by TRAI are not binding, Mr. Sharma mentioned that “I have seen it in the media today I don’t know what the opinion is about, so I don’t want to comment on that. The question is about the Act and certain provisions in the Act and one goes by those provisions.”

Mr. Sharma also mentioned that “The issue of amendment in the Act is under consideration by the government. They have recently referred to us for our comments. We are considering the matter. We will tell the government what amendments we require. The regulator will continue to be guided by the provisions of TRAI Act 1997.” This was with regards to the amendment in the TRAI act.

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