Idea Cellular (up 2.79%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.92%), Reliance Communications (up 1.79%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.07%), edged higher.
The BSE Sensex was up 95.54 points or 0.61% to 15,834.24.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) intervened after telecom firms appealed against the government order that enforced a ban on third-generation (3G) roaming arrangement between operators.
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According to reports, the TDSAT has set the next date for hearing the case on 3 January 2011. Firms including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone's Indian unit and Idea Cellular, three of India's top four carriers, had challenged the telecoms ministry order on Friday (23 December 2011), asking the firms to comply with it within 24 hours.
Last week, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued notices to the telecom firms saying their 3G roaming pacts are illegal. The DoT had decided that the bilateral 3G spectrum roaming agreements signed among Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular were illegal, barring them from offering users high-speed Internet services in licence areas where they did not get spectrum in a 2010 auction.
In the 3G spectrum auction that held in 2010, where the government fetched over Rs 67700 crore, no private operator managed to bag pan-India licence, thus barring them from offering nationwide services. Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and unlisted firm Aircel bagged the highest number 13 circles in the 3G auction.
The issue has been at the centre of controversy since the operators announced in July 2011 that they had signed roaming agreements with each other, allowing them to offer 3G services to their subscribers, even in circles where they did not win spectrum.
Other service providers like Tata Teleservices and Aircel had also entered into similar agreements to offer services in six circles. However, they have already discontinued the arrangement, reports suggested.
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