Hanging up, Etisalat asks subscribers to port out

Telecom operators who aren’t keen to continue in the Indian market after the recent Supreme Court verdict revoking 122 second generation telephony, or 2G, licences, have started the winding down process even before the deadline of June 2.

On Monday, Etisalat DB, a joint venture (JV) between UAE’s Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat) and India’s Dynamix Balwas Group, send out an advisory to its subscribers to move their “mobile number to another operator.”

The joint venture operates its services under the brand Cheers Mobile and had a market share of 0.22% in January, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data. It had added around 21,744 subscribers in that month.

“Customers are encouraged to port out their Cheers number to a network of their choice as soon as possible by following the process prescribed by India’s telecommunications regulator, Trai,” the company said in a statement.

Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat, which bought 45% stake in Swan Telecom for around $900 million (Rs 3,987 crore), announced its decision to exit the Indian telecom sector last month. It is also engaged in several legal battles relating to its telecom business with Indian companies.

Etisalat had earlier filed a petition against Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka for “fraud and misrepresentation” in the Bombay High Court .