Spectrum referred to under this agreement does not include any of the spectrum covered in the Master Agreement entered into between the companies on 28 December 2017.
The dramatic development follows Jio’s letter to the department of telecommunications (DoT), written on Friday, where it sought assurance from the government that it won’t be held liable for RCom’s past dues related to airwaves. This is not in accordance with the government’s spectrum trading norms, which stipulate the buyer is liable for dues that haven’t been recovered from the seller.
“The trading rules clearly say DoT can ask both the operators or any one of them to pay the dues. Since Jio has imposed conditions, we cannot accept it (the deal) as it goes against the guidelines,” said a senior DoT official.
“Now the ball is in their court. They have to decide and come back to us. Till then, this deal is off the table,” the official added.
Ericsson is set to file a second contempt of court petition against Reliance Communications’ (RComNSE 2.11 %) chairman Anil Ambani for failing to repay dues on time despite Supreme Court’s orders
Reliance Jio Infocomm subscribers could face disruptions in services in key markets such as Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal if the latest telecom entrant doesn’t manage to buy spectrum from RCom.
Mukesh Ambani-led telco is dependent on RCom to create contiguous spectrum blocks of five units in the premium 800 MHz band — the bare minimum spectrum requirement for 4G LTE services — in the key markets, which also include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In each of these circles, Jio holds 3.8 units of 4G airwaves in the 800 MHz band, and is dependent on RCom’s spectrum in the same band for uninterrupted LTE coverage.