Vodafone Wednesday said it has filed a petition in Delhi High Court
challenging Telecom Department's move to put its 900 MHz spectrum to
auction despite its applications for licence extension pending with the
Department.
"Vodafone has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court
challenging DoT's action of putting its 900MHz spectrum to auction even
when Vodafone's applications for licence extension are pending with
DoT," the company said in a statement.
Vodafone had in December
last year sought extension of its licence period for Delhi, Mumbai and
Kolkata circles, which are coming up for renewal in November 2014. The
telecom operator has sought the extension under clause 4.1 of the
licence agreement under which the government can extend the period of
licence by 10 years at one time if the request is made by the operator
during the 19th year of the licence period.
Vodafone said it is entitled to a fair and reasonable extension of its licence as per mutually agreeable terms.
"Both the policy and licence provide for continuity and this action of
DoT to arbitrarily withdraw the 900MHz spectrum is not only against the
provisions of policy and licence but also disruptive and against public
interest," the statement added.
The second round of spectrum sale
will start from March 11, wherein government will put on auction the
unsold GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band and airwaves held by telecom
licences in 900 Mhz band that is coming for renewal starting 2014
onwards.
Government will auction spectrum in 900 MHz band for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles.
The
existing GSM operators will be allowed to retain 2.5 Mhz in each circle
in the same band even after expiry of their licences after paying a
market-determined price. Vodafone has around 24 MHz spectrum in 900 MHz
band in these three circles.
The operator said it has invested
more than Rs. 50,000 crore in India and remains committed to providing
quality and affordable telecom solutions to its almost 150 million
customers across the country.