Hutch under DoT Scanner

Government has sought information from major cellular operator Hutchison-Essar on under what license the company has offered its push-to-talk service, which was stopped after objections were raised in early 2005, to ascertain whether there was any violation of license.

In a letter, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has asked the cellular operator to clarify under what license the push-to-talk service was offered by Hutch group companies.

In fact, last year even the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had said that Hutch's push-to-talk services were in violation of license and had recommended the DoT to take appropriate action against the company.

Meanwhile, Hutch officials have confirmed the receipt of DoT communication and said that all information has been sent to them.

In similar instance, DoT had imposed a penalty of Rs.50 crore on Tata Teleservices, which had started the service about two years back but had to stop after objections were raised with regards to services viability in terms of numbering plan and payment of Access Deficit Charge (ADC), a levy paid for using other operators' networks.

According to sources, the only difference between Tatas' and Hutch's services was that Tatas offered the service under its Internet Service Provider (ISP) license while Hutch was giving the service under its Access Service License.

DoT has also sought views from the Telecom Engineering Consultant (TEC) to ascertain whether Hutch violated the service license.

As per the DoT letter, the company has been asked to furnish the names of Hutch group companies who had offered Push-To-Talk service along with names of service areas in which the said service was offered. It has also been asked to give details within five days.