Jt Mobiles Seeks To Defer Fee Payment

JT Mobiles has filed a petition with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) seeking deferment of payment of the second tranche of licence fees (third quarter) for the Karnataka circle, saying that the recent tangle over fixed-to-cellular call tariff has disrupted its plans. The last date for payment was May 15. The regulator will hear the petition on June 24.

The company says telecom secretary A V Gokak has given the assurance that its bank guarantee would not be encashed immediately.

In the petition, the company has said that the January 29 order of the department of telecommunications (DoT) raising the fixed-to-cellular tariff to a maximum of Rs 28 for a three-minute call, which was quashed by TRAI on April 25, has thrown its plans into a tizzy.

 

The company says financial institutions were willing to fund its projects. But, with the hike in tariff, they grew cold feet and pulled out saying that the killer tariff would render the projects unviable. Now, negotiations would have to start all over again.

Another reason cited by the company is that DoT has yet to provide interconnectivity to its mobile switching centres.