The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will soon issue 18 more show-cause notices to telecom operators for not meeting service rollout obligations.
"Two notices have already been issued and 18 more will be issued soon for cancellation of licences for not meeting rollout obligations," said DoT secretary R Chandrashekhar.
He, however, refused to name the companies that will get these notices.
Earlier this month, the department had sent licence cancellation notices to Etisalat DB and Idea Cellular.
Etisalat DB received the notice for cancellation of licences in the Mumbai and Delhi circles and Idea Cellular for the Punjab circle.
Under the Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) scheme, a telecom operator is required to start services in 10 per cent of the district headquarters and towns in a circle within one year of receiving the sanctioned spectrum. Any violation of these norms may lead to a penalty or cancellation of the licence.
The DoT move came after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendation to cancel 38 licences for the operators' failure to comply with the DoT guidelines.
These operators include Loop Telecom (14 circles), Sistema (10), Uninor (8), Aircel (4) and Etisalat DB (2).
Trai had also pulled up 31 other licensees for poor coverage and inadequate cell towers, saying their licences should be cancelled after taking legal opinion.
