Government has said that the interests of the subscribers of the telcos whose licences are set to be cancelled after the Supreme Court Verdict will be safeguarded.
Talking to media persons the Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot said that government is looking at ways to protect their interests.
"Government is looking at various ways we can help any subscriber to ensure his interest is protected," he said at the sidelines of India Semiconductor Association (ISA) event.
He said that the subscriber base of the affected service providers is very small and Supreme Court has given them four months time frame with customers having the option of number portability option.
Besides this, Department of telecommunication (DoT) is believed to be giving a serious though to the legal implications in the face of the apex court verdict.
The Supreme Court on last Thursday had cancelled all the 122 spectrum licences allotted in 2008 by the former telecom minister A Raja. The telcos who are affected by this judgment are Sistema-Shyam (a joint venture between Shyam and Sistema of Russia Etisalat DB (a joint venture between Swan and Etisalat of the UAE), Videocon, Uninor, Tatas and Idea Cellular.
While some of them like Sistema Shyam are exploring the legal option against verdict, Uninor on Monday expressed it willingness to participate in the fresh 2G auction as directed by the Supreme Court while keeping the exit option open. Uninor, the India arm of Norwegian firm Telenor also said that government of Norway is in talks with its Indian counterpart to work out a solution. |