【New Delhi】The Supreme Court on Sunday cleared the decks for Monday's much-awaited auction of spectrum in the 900-MHz and 1,800-MHz bands, refusing to grant a stay on the proceedings. Though the Court admitted a petition of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular against a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order that had rejected their plea for extension of licences, it denied the operators any interim relief.
The licences of Bharti and Vodafone are to expire this year, beginning with Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, while Idea's licences for seven of the nine circles where it is present will expire next year. The companies' main argument was that they held 20-year licences (from 1994 to 2014) and had a "legitimate expectation" of continuing for another 10 years, according to licence terms. They also said they had invested huge amounts and built infrastructure that could not be matched by new entrants.
With the verdict of the Supreme Court, the third round of spectrum auction should see good participation. The government is hoping to mop up close to Rs 40,000 crore from the auctions. The government has to conduct this third round of spectrum auction following a Supreme Court order in 2G case directing that all the radiowaves freed from the cancellation of 122 licences in February 2012 should be auctioned.
【News source】
SC clears decks for auction of spectrum today
Supreme Court rejection of relief for telcos to fire up auctions starting today
Third round of spectrum auction begins, 8 telcos in fray
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