Reliance Communications (RCOM) has filed a petition before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) requesting for additional GSM spectrum of 6.2 MHz.
In 2008 RCOM was given 4.4 MHz of GSM spectrum. At the time the company was looking forward to getting additional spectrum based on the subscriber-linked criteria and without paying any additional fee. However, as per the new policies being formulated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), RCOM will have to buy the additional frequency it requires through an auction.
In its petition to TDSAT, RCOM has said that it is entitled to the entire 6.2 MHz of spectrum under the licence agreement signed with the government. It has sought a direction on DoT to fulfill its contractual obligations before proceeding with the auction process.
Meanwhile, TDSAT, accepting RCOM?s petition has issued a notice to DoT to file its reply. DoT has been of the view that since the Supreme Court has observed that natural resources cannot be allocated without an auction, it would not be possible to give additional spectrum to RCOM without an auction.
