Reliance Communications has filed a filed petition with the telecom tribunal seeking GSM spectrum up to 6.2 Mhz. The operator was given 4.4 Mhz spectrum in 2008 in all the circles and was hoping to get the additional chunk based on the subscriber-linked criteria and without paying any additional fee. However under the new policy being formulated, RCom will have to buy the additional frequency through an auction. RCom in its appeal filed with the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) said that it was seeking protection and enforcement of its contractual rights for allocation of the balance spectrum.

According to the operator, it is entitled to the entire 6.2 Mhz under the licence agreement signed with the Government. RCom has sought a direction on DoT to fulfil its contractual obligations before proceeding with the auction process. The Tribunal admitted RCOM's petition and issued notice to DoT to file its reply. The Department of Telecom had taken a view that since the Supreme Court has observed that natural resources cannot be allocated without an auction, it would not be possible to give additional chunk of spectrum to RCom.

Related Topics