The Supreme Court has stated that it will take a decision on the dispute between the government and private telecom operators, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, on the issue of bidding of spectrum for the northeast circle, and has directed High Courts to refrain from interfering with the spectrum auction rules. This comes after the government approached the Supreme Court to put a stay on the Tripura High Court?s decision that allowed telecom operators to bid for lower quantity of spectrum than notified in the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for the March 2015 auctions.
The Tripura High Court had allowed Bharti Airtel and a unit of Reliance Communications to bid only for the spectrum they currently use, 4.4 MHz each, instead of the minimum of 5 MHz stipulated in the guidelines for the Northeast circle. The Supreme Court has stated that said it would examine the issue in the backdrop of the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The firms have contended that if a company bids for a minimum of 5 MHz spectrum out of the total 8.8 MHz spectrum put for sale in the auction, then there may be two players in the service area and the government may lose out on revenues for the remaining 3.8 MHz spectrum. The centre has contended that the high court passed an interim order without its consultation and the order may have a serious implication on the entire auction process.
