Leading telecom service providers, Tata Communications and Bharti Airtel has asked the government to offer clarity on its stance on the 3G services on their networks.

Subodh Bhargava, chairman of telecom equipment maker Tata Communications said that the telecom department of the India government is acting like a police officer rather than a policy maker. Sanjay Kapur, the head of Bharti Airtel's Indian unit, has pointed that unclear policies have affected investor confidence in the sector.

Meanwhile, the union telecom ministry has reportedly imposed a penalty of Rs 50 crore each on Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications for violations of International Long Distance (ILD) licence terms and conditions.

The ministry found the two telecom operators in violation of the conditions as they were found to have offered international private lease circuits to foreign company SingTel. IT is believed that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has sent notices to the two operators for violating the terms and conditions of ILD.

Several telecom service providers including, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have already entered into agreements to provide seamless 3G services to their customers throughout the country. It allows the operators to share spectrum even in circles where they do not have airwave licenses. The telecom department has said that it might cancel licenses if they do not comply with the conditions of the agreement.

The telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar has hinted recently that the central government is planning to announce a new telecom policy in January next year. The government is aiming to provide clear regulations on a host of issues to telecom carriers in the country following a huge spam that affected the image of the telecom sector in the country. The spam is believed to have cost the government about $ 39 billion in lost revenue.