NEW DELHI, April 5 (Reuters) - India's telecommunicationsministry has asked Vodafone Group Plc's local unit andIdea Cellular to stop 3G services outside theirlicensed zones and imposed penalty on both carriers, a seniorgovernment official said, in a dispute that has dragged on formore than a year.
The orders follow a similar directive to top mobile phonecarrier Bharti Airtel Ltd last month, which thecompany is fighting in courts. Vodafone and Idea are alsoexpected to challenge the government orders.
The Department of Telecommunications has asked VodafoneIndia to pay a penalty of 5.5 billion rupees ($100 million) andIdea Cellular to pay about 3 billion rupees, the official said.
Vodafone India and Idea declined to comment.
The dispute over 3G pacts is one of several regulatorychallenges hurting carriers in the world's second-biggest mobilephone market.
In a 2010 auction, no single carrier managed to win 3Gairwaves for all of India's 22 telecommunication zones as bidprices were far higher than expected. Bharti, Vodafone and Ideaprovide 3G services beyond their licensed zones through pactswith each other. The government says such pacts are "illegal".