The government will file an application in the Supreme Court seeking anextension of the deadline for the auction of 2G spectrum, CommunicationsMinister Kapil Sibal said Tuesday.
The apex court had set Aug 31 as the date by which the auction has to becompleted.
However expressing concern, telecom operator Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL)has said due to the prevailing regulatory and legal uncertainties the companyis facing huge losses per day which is likely to escalate following theextension.
"Due to the prevailing regulatory and legal uncertainties, SSTL is losingapproximately Rs.7 crore per day. With the auction timelines getting furtherdelayed, it is bound to add to the losses of the company," said VsevolodRozanov, president and chief executive officer, SSTL.
SSTL, a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India-based Shyam Group.
According to Norway-based Telenor Group which has been operating in India undera joint venture with India-based Unitech, such delays prolong uncertainties."Such delays are a matter of concern to us as they prolong theuncertainties we face. We urge the government to conclude the auction processat the earliest," the company said in a statement.
"Ofcourse, until any such extension is sought and granted, we have tocontinue working with the existing deadlines. As regards the validity of ourlicenses, the principle of licenses continuing until after the auctions hasalready been established and applied by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Indiawhile granting extension on April 24, 2012," it added.
The decision to seek extension was taken at a meeting of the Empowered Group ofMinisters (EGoM) on telecom headed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday.
"We are going to move the Supreme Court, place before them the facts andwhat the government has done, and also place before them that in terms of thisschedule it isn't possible to perhaps to complete the auction by Aug. 31,"Sibal told reporters after the meeting.
Though Sibal did not elaborate on the extended timeline, a senior official saidthe auction would likely begin by early November.
Sibal did not say whether an extension of the deadline will allow the affectedcompanies to continue offering services beyond Sep 7.
According to Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association ofIndia (COAI) the problem will be greater for operators whose licences stand tobe cancelled.
"These operators are hugely being affected due to the uncertaintiesprevailing in the market," Mathews told IANS.
The Supreme Court had cancelled 122 licences Feb 2 and asked the telecomdepartment to redistribute them through an auction.
The Cabinet had last week finalised Rs.14,000 crore for 5 MHz spectrum in the1800 MHz band.