“We were given licence in 2000 subject to finalisation of terms and conditions by licensor on recommendations of TRAI, and the first rollout was done in 2002. DTS had the permit for technology neutral cellular services but had not started providing mobile operations. Further, the terms and conditions of the licence were to be outlined in due course after the recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). In June this year, MTNL, which operates telephony services in Delhi and Mumbai also approached the government to extend the validity of its mobile licence by two years till 2021, at no extra cost. MTNL had argued that its mobile licence for the two service areas remained underused in the first four years of the permit’s lifespan, for various reasons.

Source: Mint August 15, 2017 08:03 UTC