The much-talked about curative petition of Sistema Shyam Teleservices is scheduled for a hearing before the Supreme Court on January 10, according to the website of the apex court.
Backed by Russian telecom giant Sistema, the company had filed the petition before the apex court in May last year challenging the February order of the Supreme Court, which quashed its pan-India operating permits, seeking restoration of its licences. The Supreme Court, in February, had cancelled 122 telecom licences for alleged corruption in spectrum allocation.
Companies whose licences were cancelled will not be able to operate after January 18. However, the government is likely to extend the period as it will not be able to auction spectrum before January 18.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to auction the 800 MHz band CDMA spectrum in March. The decision of the Supreme Court on the curative petition would determine the next course of action of Sistema as well as the fate of the CDMA auction that failed to attract bidders in November.
If the Supreme Court restores Sistema’s licences, the CDMA player would not require bidding in the March CDMA auction to ensure operating permits. But, it might consider bidding to secure more spectrums, if required.