Etisalat to shut shop in India;16.7 lakh subscribers affected

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) UAE-based Etisalat has decided to shut down its India operations -- Etisalat DB that has over 1.67 million mobile subscribers -- following the Supreme Court order which cancelled 122 telecom licences in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Etisalat, which holds about 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB, is the second foreign telecom company to exit India after Baharain Telecom which offloaded its 42.7 per cent stake in S Tel. In an e-mailed statement Etisalat said, "As unanimously resolved by the Board ..., Etisalat DB will be taking steps to reduce operating costs, including the suspension of its network and services, pursuant to the terms of its UAS licenses." Etisalat's 1.67-million strong subscriber base is spread across 15 Indian telecom circles, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mumbai and Punjab. "The decision has been taken in order to protect the interests of all stakeholders and to avoid incurring further costs at this time of rapid change and continued uncertainty in the Indian telecommunications sector," Etisalat said. Further information, including the official cessation date will be communicated shortly to customers through the appropriate channels, the statement Wednesday added. On February 9, Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) had written off about USD 820 million worth value of its Indian operations by way of an impairment charge as an after effect of Supreme Court order. The apex Indian court had on February 2 ordered cancellation of 122 licences issued by the then telecom minister A Raja in 2008 on first-come-first-served basis. It asked the government to issue fresh licences through auction. Trouble for Etisalat customers started on January 20, almost two week before the SC judgement, when its network was disconnected by Reliance Communications subsidiary Reliance Telecom Infrastructure for non-payment of dues and the company did not make efforts to restart its network. PTI