DoT orders Bharti to stop 3G roaming in 3 days, shares drop

Bharti Airtel, the largest telecom operator in India, fell more than 2 percent on Friday after the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) ordered Airtel to stop providing 3G roaming in 3 days, sources said.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal already approved the recommendation of a Department of Telecom committee to impose Rs 50 crore penalty each on seven licences (for circles namely Haryana, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh East, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh) of Bharti Airtel that entered into 3G roaming agreements with other operators to offer services beyond permitted zones.

In auction of 3G airwaves held in 2010, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had won licenses for 13, 9 and 11 circles, respectively. These three GSM operators then entered into agreement with each other for offering 3G services by using each other's airwaves.

According to sources, notice for the same will also be sent to Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

Earlier the government sent show-cause notices to five telecom firms for alleged understatement of revenues of over Rs 10,000 crore (including Bharti - Rs 1,927.50 crore) for financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08.

The stock lost nearly 5 percent in four out of five sessions this week. At 13:12 hours IST, shares went down 2.05 percent to Rs 308.55 on Bombay Stock Exchange.