Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has reserved its order on a petition filed by Qualcomm regarding reduction in the validity of its licence period and changes in the roll-out obligations, say news reports.
Earlier, the US-based Qualcomm had approached TDSAT against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for reducing the validity of its broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum to 18 years and six months, from 20 years and for the reduction in its roll-out obligation period from five years to three-and-a-half years.
The company had won the BWA spectrum in 2010 in four circles – Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana. It had paid Rs 49 billion to the government for the spectrum. As per the notice inviting application for spectrum, companies could utilise the BWA spectrum for 20 years from the date of awarding the spectrum block.
However, in September 2011, DoT rejected its application for an internet service provider licence on various grounds. Thereafter, the company approached TDSAT against DoT, which directed DoT to award the licence to Qualcomm.
