Notice to 7 telecos using ‘excess’ spectrum for free

The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and seven telecom firms on a plea by ‘Telecom Watchdog’, seeking cancellation of 2G spectrum beyond 2x4.5 MHz for metros and 2x4.4 MHz for other circles, allocated to the firms without charging additional fees.
The court asked the companies to file their replies within a month.
The petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan also argued for cancellation of additional spectrum allocated to these firms.
The companies which have been issued the notices are Bharati Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Telecom, Idea Cellular, Loop Mobile (India), Spice Communications and Aircel Cellular.
The court had in January last, sought replies of the Centre and telecom firms on a plea challenging the allocation of 2G spectrum beyond the entry level of 4.4 MHz and 6.2 MHz without charging additional fees from them.
It had also issued a notice to the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Telecom, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and various telecom firms including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Loop and Tata on a plea for reclaiming all the spectrum quantity allocated beyond the contracted quantum of 6.2 MHz from the telecom firms.