Telecom cos fall ahead of hearing on 3G roaming/news06012012

Shares of telecom companies fall by 0.91% - 3.96% ahead of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal ( TDSAT) hearing on the third-generation (3G) roaming case due Monday.

At 12.03 am Bharti Airtel down by 3.79%, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) down by 2.22%, Reliance Communications down by 1.90% and Idea Cellular down by 0.97%.

The Department of Telecommunication ( DoT), in a notice sent on December 23, had directed Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular to stop the 3G roaming services immediately in circles where they did not have the bandwidth. The operators then moved the TDSAT against the order.

According to reports, the telecom ministry will raise a demand of over Rs1,590 crore from five telecom firms, Tatas, Vodafone, Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular for under-reporting revenues, as per a special audit report, for the assessment years starting from 2006 to 2008.

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