By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High court Monday deferred till Jan 3 the hearing on the petition filed by major GSM players Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Spice Telecom against the government’s telecom spectrum allocation process.
The court has also refused to immediately halt the spectrum or airwaves allocation process, as requested by these operators. The process has already been started by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
The DoT has started awarding new licences and allocating airwaves to mobile firms who had applied as of Sep 25, according to the directive given by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Dec 12.
The operators under the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) decided to move court last week challenging TDSAT’s interim order.
“All the four members of COAI, namely Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Spice, who are parties in the original petition before TDSAT (Telecom Appellate and Disputes Settlement Tribunal), have unitedly decided to approach the Delhi High Court in a writ petition against the non-speaking interim order given by the Hon’ble TDSAT on December 12, 2007,” the COAI had said in a statement.
Spectrum or radio frequency is the lifeline of telecom operators for their business development and expansion.
India is adding about eight million subscribers a month. The humongous growth has led to a need for additional spectrum.