Uninor, Sistema hail SC order allowing them to work till Sep

Two of the telecom operators whose licenses were cancelled on a Supreme

Court order this February today welcomed the court’s decision to allow them to do business till 7 September. The court had earlier given 2 June as the deadline for these companies to stop operations.

Sistema Shyam (SSTL), which lost 21 licenses, said “It is heartening to note, that the Honorable supreme court has clarified its position in favour of our plea. The said order comes as a huge relief to our customers, employees, investors and all members of the telecom ecosystem who are both directly and indirectly associated with SSTL”.

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Sistema had filed an application in the SC seeking a clarification that quashing of the licenses is to become operative simultaneously with the conclusion of the grant of licenses and auction process for allocation of 2G spectrum.

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Uninor also welcomed the SC order. But said that the Government must move fast to review some of the recommendations (on spectrum allocation) “that are otherwise certain to have a catastrophic impact on the industry and on tariffs for the common man. Issues on which there is already an industry consensus can be resolved very quickly.”

It could not be immediately ascertained whether players like Etisalat are also upbeat about extension of the deadline for closure of operations. Sources had told us earlier that S Tel has already wound up operations and instead of adhering to the directive of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to continue operations till 2 June, has sought several clarifications on the matter. Even Loop is unlikely to change its decision to wind up operations - both S Tel and Loop have asked subscribers to port out to other operators. Despite several attempts, Etisalat spokespersons remained unavailable for comments.

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Meanwhile, in its order today, the apex court has also directed the government to conduct 2G spectrum auctions by 31 August. It has rejected a plea by the Department of Telecom seeking 400 days for the auction process to be over. On 2 February, the SC cancelled 122 telecom licences and asked the government to hold a new auction to issue the licences.