Uninor to file plea against TRAI recommendations

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Uninor will file an interim application in the Supreme Court to bring to the apex court's attention its plea against the recommendations of the telecom regulator on spectrum auction.

"Today (Tuesday), we sought the Hon'ble Supreme Court's permission to file an interim application... The court has allowed us to file an application and stated that it is open to hearing our arguments," the company said in a statement.

Also read: Telenor writes down Indian assets worth $680 mn

The firm has argued that the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are not in line with the order of the Supreme Court.

On Feb 2, the apex court cancelled 122 telecom licences including 22 of Uninor -- a joint venture between India's Unitech and Norway-based Telenor. The apex court also asked the government to re-distribute the licences through auction process.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its recommendation for auction has now proposed a reserve price of Rs 3,622 crore per megahertz of spectrum at the pan-India level. This is around 10 times higher than the price for 2G licences in 2008.

In a joint letter with four other firms -- Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Videocon, Uninor has also urged Communications Minister Kapil Sibal not to accept TRAI's recommendation or else the call tariffs would shoot up by 25-30 per cent.

Norwegian firm Telenor, which Monday wrote-off its remaining assets in India worth $680 million owing to the "increased uncertainty" in the country's telecom sector, has also said that if the proposals are accepted then it might have to shut down its Indian operators.

Uninor has over 40 million subscribers across the country.