The Centre had asked the court to consider allowing telecom operators, whose 2G licences were cancelled last year, to continue to operate after the January 18 deadline with a condition that they "will be liable to pay" for the spectrum as per the proposed price of the upcoming auction on March 11. The Department of Telecom (DoT) had stated its stand in an affidavit which assumes importance as the court has permitted the telecom operators to continue to operate till January 18. The DoT had asked the apex court to consider allowing it to grant "temporary licences" to such operators till the completion of the fresh bidding process. It said this plea could be taken into account if the court decides not to extend any further the January 18 deadline as "such an arrangement will avoid disruption of services to the subscribers on one hand and safeguard public revenue on the other". As per the apex court order, 21 licences of Sistema Shyam Teleservices (MTS), 16 permits of Telenor controlled Uninor, 15 of Videocon and 3 CDMA permits of Tata Teleservices were to stand cancelled from January 18, with around 25 crore subscribers in the country. Telenor is in the process of transferring the business of Uninor in 6 circles to new entity Telewings Communications, which recently won spectrum. The apex court had on November 27 last year said that the telecom operators, whose licences were cancelled by it but continued to operate due to delay on government's part to hold fresh auction of 2G spectrum, might have to pay for using the radiowaves on the basis of current price. The apex court had on February 2, 2012, quashed 122 2G licences while allowing telecom operators to run their services for four months after which the order was to become operative. The date expired on May 2 but the apex court allowed the operators to continue providing services as the Centre failed to put the spectrum on auction which was done only on November 12, 2012.
