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Sistema Shyam (SSTL) and Uninor filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court in a bid to save their 2G licences.
While Sistema Shyam has filed a curative petition against the licence cancellation, Uninor has sought the apex court's intervention against the TRAI's auction proposals. While most of the other new 2G players have chosen to exit the business after the court cancelled licences issued in 2008, both these operators are fighting on to stay invested.
Sistema Shyam said its case was significantly different compared to other mobile operators because there was no finding or suggestion by the Comptroller and Auditor General's report that CDMA spectrum was equally or anywhere near in demand as GSM back in 2008.
“To protect the interest of more than 16 million customers, 3,500 employees, universe of 300,000 retailers and investments of over $3.1 billion, SSTL has filed the curative petition before the Supreme Court,” a company spokesperson said.
Curative petition is the last legal recourse available to seek a review of the apex court's decision to cancel 122 licences. SSTL had earlier filed a review petition which was rejected by the court. “We are hopeful that the highest court of the land will look into the merits of the SSTL case and consider it accordingly,” SSTL said.
Uninor, majority owned by Norway's Telenor, has filed an application in the Supreme Court, claiming violation of both the letter and spirit of its orders by the recommendations from TRAI.
“While the Supreme Court enabled new operators to continue after procuring fresh licences and spectrum through auctions, the recommendations are asking for all but one new operator to be evicted. The Court ordered an auction whereas the recommendations are simply conducting a price discovery test with 5Mhz spectrum and not a legitimate auction,” Uninor said.
Telenor has already written off the value from Indian operations and has threatened to exit the country if the TRAI's proposals are accepted.
“The Court ordered for fresh licences to be auctioned in four months while the recommendations, taking advantage of the order, are attempting to complicate a straightforward task with regulatory planning for 20 years. We are praying to the Supreme Court to ensure that its orders are fully and accurately complied with,” Uninor said.
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