DoT seeks Qualcomm’s response on ISP license cancellation
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) is still waiting for a response from US-based chipmaker Qualcomm after it issued a notice rejecting the company’s application for license to provide wireless broadband services in four circles of India.
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Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi, federal Telecommunications Secretary R Chandrashekhar revealed that the DoT would make a final decision on the bandwidth allotted to Qualcomm after it received a reply from the chipmaker.
“The decision [of rejecting the application] has been conveyed to them,” says Chandrashekhar. “We will see whatever is their response, and then we’ll take an appropriate view on the bandwidth.”
Earlier, Qualcomm revealed that the DoT had rejected its application for ISP license, stating the company had missed the deadline. The chip maker played down the DoT notice, saying the reason for the rejection was “baseless”.
Responding to the DoT move, Qualcomm issued a statement saying, “We received a notice from the Department of Telecommunications on September 21, 2011, informing us that the license to the companies formed with our Indian partners, for use of the spectrum Qualcomm won at last year’s auction, has been rejected on grounds that we find to be baseless.”
“In fact, the application process was fully complied with, and we will continue to work with the Indian authorities to resolve this matter.” According to reports, the DoT is now seeking a legal opinion on the matter.
It’s notable that in case the law ministry decides against issuing the license, Qualcomm may suffer a loss of nearly $1 billion, the amount company paid to win the license. The auction rule stated that if at any stage, the allocation is either “revoked, withdrawn, varied or surrendered”, there will be no refunds. Check out our previous coverage on Qualcomm’s ISP bid here.
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