Videocon Telecommunications Limited, formerly Videocon Mobile Services, was an Indian cellular service provider that offered

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

mobile services in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

under the brand name Videocon. The company was a subsidiary of the

Videocon Group Videocon Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The group had 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in Mainland China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It was the third largest picture tube manufactu ...

, and was headquartered at

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

. Videocon launched its services on 7 April 2010 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. At its peak, Videocon held licences to provide mobile services in 18 out of 22 telecom circles of India. However, Videocon launched commercial services only in 11 out of the 18 circles it held licences in. Following the

2G spectrum case The 2G spectrum case was a political controversy in which politicians and private officials of the United Progressive Alliance coalition government India were involved in selling or allotting 122 2G spectrum licenses on conditions that provi ...

, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences issued by the Indian Government in 2008, including 21 licences belonging to Videocon. In the 2012 spectrum auction, Videocon won back licences in 6 circles.Videocon To Shut Down GSM Operations in 11 Circles Including Mumbai, Asks Customers To Port Out Before 18 January
TelecomTalk.info On 16 March 2016, Videocon sold its spectrum in all six circles it operated in to

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...

. Videocon shut down its network and discontinued operations in the Gujarat and UP (West) circles on 26 December 2015, and in the Haryana, Madhya Pradhesh, Bihar and UP (East) circles on 11 May 2016.

Sale of spectrum

In November 2015, Videocon entered into an agreement with Idea Cellular Ltd. to sell its spectrum in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) for . By March 2016, Airtel offered to purchase spectrum in all six circles in which Videocon operated for . Videocon had been looking to exit the telecom sector for some time, and on 16 March 2016, Airtel announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Videocon (subject to standard regulatory approvals) to purchase 2 x 5 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz Band in all six circles that Videcon had been allotted by the government. On 24 May 2016, Airtel announced that the deal had successfully been completed.

Operations in Punjab

Videocon's operations in the Punjab circle are run through its wholly owned subsidiary Quadrant Televentures Ltd (formerly HFCL Infotel). Quadrant's holdings were not a part of the sale to Airtel, and the company continues to offer GSM mobile services in Punjab. Quadrant also offers broadband and fixed line services in Punjab under its Connect Broadband brand. In January 2017, Quadrant informed its three million subscribers that the company would cease mobile services in Punjab from 15 February 2017, and requested them to switch to other mobile network operators. In response, TRAI ordered Quadrant to surrender its Unified Access Service License (UASL) for the Punjab telecom circle. On 8 February, Quadrant informed TRAI that it could not surrender its licence as the company was only shutting down mobile services and would continue to offer wired internet services in Punjab. On 14 February, TRAI barred Quadrant from suspending its mobile services, and ordered the company to ensure continuity of service for its subscribers until its UASL for Punjab expires on 30 September 2017. Quadrant has currently requested all of its mobile subscribers to port out of the network by midnight on 18 April 2017.

References

External links

* {{Telecommunication companies of India Videocon Mobile phone companies of India Telecommunications companies of India Companies based in Gurgaon Telecommunications companies established in 2008 Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2016 2008 establishments in Haryana Indian companies disestablished in 2016 Indian companies established in 2008