Uninor moves SC for early 2G auction

Uninor, on Wednesday, filed an application in the Supreme Court to direct the government to complete the 2G spectrum auction process by June, even as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman, J. S. Sarma, indicated that the telecom regulator would come up with recommendations on the spectrum auction by next month. “We have moved the Supreme Court seeking early spectrum auction as any delay will hurt our interests…these auctions are and must remain about complying with the Supreme Court order that simply asked for the 2008 process to be remedied and fresh licences and spectrum be granted through auction in four months (June, 2012),” Uninor Managing Director and Head of Telenor Asia operations Sigve Brekke told journalists here. Notably, the Department of Telecommunications says that it will take at least 400 days (at least by March, 2013) to complete the auction process. “It is important that the government is focussed on the process of remedying the 2008 process through auction and not allow this to be derailed by parties whose primary interest is to ensure lesser competition in the market,” he pointed out. Uninor, a joint venture between Norway's Telenor and India's Unitech, saw all its telecom licences cancelled following the Supreme Court verdict.