Cellular fight continues, move to SC

NEW DELHI: India's cellular industry filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on Tuesday against a telecoms tribunal order upholding a government decision to allow basic firms into the mobile sector.

The move by the Cellular Operators Association against the government, the sector regulator and basic phone firms, who offer cheaper CDMA-based limited radius mobile services, is the latest in a string of law suits that have hobbled the booming sector.

"We've approached the Supreme Court against the majority judgment given by the TDSAT in August," TV Ramachandran, director-general of the cellular association, told Reuters.

"Our contention is that wireless in local loop mobility services are illegal and they violate our license agreements."

In August, a majority judgment of the TDSAT or the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal had backed a central policy allowing fixed-line companies to offer limited mobility services in competition with cellular companies.

The TDSAT gave its ruling after a petition filed by the $5.0 billion cellular sector which opposed the government's move, saying it amounted to a backdoor entry into their business which had only recently started winning customers.

Decisions of the three-member TDSAT, the telecom sector's apex court, can only be challenged in the Supreme Court.

India has about 19 million GSM cellular users and some six million customers of limited mobility services. Both segments are showing rapid growth thanks to some of the world's lowest tariffs.

Reuters