Phone firms fail to solve WLL mobile dispute

NEW DELHI: Private cellular phone companies and their fixed-line counterparts failed to hammer out a deal on Thursday to end a dispute over mobile services offered in cities, a government official said.

The Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) mobile services offered by the fixed-line firms is at the heart of a two-year battle with the private mobile companies who say the services give the fixed-line companies an edge in the booming sector.

The lack of an agreement means the fixed-line phone companies should continue to make inroads into the growing mobile market now dominated by the cellular companies.

"Both sides were trying to accommodate each other but no conclusion or understanding could be reached," Vinod Vaish, a telecoms official, told reporters after a fourth meeting of the companies involved.

He said the opposing parties would again approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Monday to resume the talks.

Communications Minister Arun Shourie had set up the panel in February and had urged the warring players to resolve their differences amicably.

The case had been referred to the TDSAT by the Supreme Court in response to a petition by the cellular firms, who say the WLL services, which work on CDMA technology provided by U.S.-based company Qualcomm Inc, amount to a back-door entry to their business.

The main players in India's nine-year-old cellular phone sector are Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd -- 16 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications -- state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and the unlisted Idea Cellular Ltd.

India has more than 11.8 million cellular phone users, a number expected to grow to 120 million by 2008, making the country a highly sought after destination for global telecom firms.

Six companies, including the unlisted BSNL, Reliance and the Tata groups offer the limited radius facilities to close to 600,000 customers.