The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has wrapped up hearings on a controversial government policy allowing fixed-line telephone firms to offer cheaper limited mobility services (wireless in local loop) and will rule later on the issue, a lawyer said.
Abhishek Singhvi, lawyer for the Association of Basic Telephone Operators, who presented arguments at the hearings, said TDSAT had set no date for when it would issue its ruling.
The move letting fixed-line operators offer cheaper limited mobility services is at the heart of a bitter row pitting private cellular firms against the government and basic phone operators.
The loss-making cellular firms launched the challenge two years ago to the government's decision, saying fixed-line firms were given a competitive edge when they were allowed to offer limited mobility facilities.