Fate of subscribers hangs in balance after SC verdict

Chennai:

The cancellation of 122 telecom licences allotted under the 2G spectrum on or after January 10, 2008 by the Supreme Court has been a blow to many telecom firms as well as subscribers in the state as the telecom companies are working on options to ensure they protect their investments.

Idea’ six million subscribers in seven licence areas including Tamil Nadu are among those who are expected to be hit by the judgement. The judgement may be a blow to Idea, who may be running out of ideas with the apex court judgement, but the company refuses to give up. “We will study in detail the above Supreme Court judgment and explore all possibilities to protect our investment, the company said.

Interestingly, Idea’s nine licenses and four licenses of erstwhile Spice Communications which merged with Idea Cellular has been affected by the court judgement.

Idea Cellular has rolled out its telecom services in seven license areas which include Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, NESA and Jammu & Kashmir. The remaining two licenses of Idea Cellular and four licenses of erstwhile Spice Communications are non-operational.

“We understand that the license holders are allowed to continue operations for the next four months and an auction will be conducted for these licenses within this period. We will study in detail the above Supreme Court judgment and explore all possibilities to protect our investment,” a statement from Idea said.

Similarly, Uninor vowed to exercise all options available to ensure it continues to operate in India and said it has been penalized for faults the court has found in the Government process.

Unionor has 36 million customers, 17500 workforce and 22,000 partners cross India.

“We have been unfairly treated as we simply followed the Government process we were asked to. We are shocked to see that Uninor is being penalized,” the company said.

 “It is important to note that order does not stop our operations for now. We will study the order in detail and exercise all options available to ensure that Uninor continues to operate in India, the company added.

Interestingly, many consumers are not aware of the Supreme Court judgement and hoped that the issue will be resolved soon.