The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has reserved its order over Vodafone India?s petition against the Department of Telecommunication?s (DoT) policy of liberalised spectrum use, say news reports.
Vodafone had also requested TDSAT to pass an interim order to restrain DoT from implementing its decision to liberalise the spectrum for the existing players, till the final order is passed by the tribunal on the petition.
Earlier DoT released guidelines for the forthcoming 2G spectrum auction which allows existing players to pay an auction discovered price for the spectrum, which can be used for providing telecom services across any technology. DoT is of the view that liberalisation of spectrum will result in more effective utilisation of spectrum.
However, Vodafone India has opposed DoT?s move. According to the operator, DoT?s move to ask existing companies to pay a licence fee to obtain liberalised spectrum, is in violation of contractual and legal rights of existing operators. Vodafone in its petition to TDSAT stated that spectrum has been in-principle liberalised since 1999 with the launch of National Telecom Policy. And ever since both DoT and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have acknowledged the same.
