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International operators face Indian fines
08 January 2010
The government of India is claiming that AT&T, BT, France Telecom and Verizon provided long-distance services before they were permitted and wants to fine them a total of $24 million
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India
AT&T
BT
France Telecom
Verizon
Orange Business Services
Bharti Airtel
Tata
Reliance
Comment: The Indian economy is benefitting from telecoms competition — and these four Western companies were all working with Indian operators in the days before foreign operators were allowed to compete under their own names. Today Bharti, Tata and Reliance are among the most powerful operators in the world. It would be a pity if the Indian government decided to impose retrospective fines under rules that were already out of date four years ago.
The Indian government may impose a $24.04 million fine on AT&T, BT, France Telecom and Verizon for allegedly evading licensing rules.
The government is claiming that the companies allegedly offered long distance services in India, prior to 2006, without licences. The four companies have denied any wrongdoing.
The companies provided the services by tying up with Indian counterparts, Bharti Airtel, Tata Communications and Reliance Communications. India’s Department of Telecoms also stated the companies had not paid a one-time entry fee of $5.46 million plus 15% of their annual revenues as levies for offering long-distance services in India.
The latest report by the department has recommended that AT&T be fined $18.7 million, BT and France Telecom’s Equant — now Orange Business Services — nearly $2.6 million each, while Verizon be imposed a small fine of $11,000.
The recommendations will need the approval of the Telecom Commission and the IT minister. GTB