Rollout obligation hit by import curbs: COAI

HYDERABAD: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), on Tuesday, said allotment of additional spectrum to few operators has affected operations of other players. COAI also said, some
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HYDERABAD: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), on Tuesday, said allotment of additional spectrum to few operators has affected operations of other players. COAI also said, some operators couldn’t meet the rollout obligation due to government restriction on import of telecom equipment.

“The Department of Telecom (DoT) will do an independent study whether the coverage by a certain operator is appropriate or not. I don’t know how many operators and in how many circles operations were impacted. But it (lack of spectrum) is certainly one reason why some operators couldn’t roll out,” Rajan S Mathews, Director-General, COAI told Express.

“Some of the operators couldn’t roll out because they weren’t given spectrum. TRAI itself said the industry is short-changed of spectrum and the bigger problem we are finding among operators is that it’s become a zero-sum game. If the Government has given a licence inviting competition and encouraging penetration, then it should make the spectrum available,” he said.

Besides, spectrum, the curbs on import of telecom equipment also led to the delay in rollout of services. “Obviously, you can’t hold somebody responsible for not rolling out operations when they cannot import equipment.”

Currently, as per the telecom policy, operators importing equipment have to either self-ratify the provider or sign a unified template. “The terms and conditions such as high penalities in case of default, liability to criminal charges and disclosure of commercial terms and conditions are some issues we are trying to iron out,” Mathews said.

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