The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has issued notice to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) on a fresh petition by Vodafone India Ltd for extension of its licences in six telecom circles due to expire in December 2015. The SCI will next hear the case on December 18.
Yesterday, Vodafone petition filed in the SCI where it had mentioned that the company’s licences in six telecom circles including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (east) needs to be extended.
The licences, given by the DoT for a period of 20 years, are due to expire in December 2015.
Vodafone had earlier approached DoT for an extension of these licences for a period of 10 years but this was declined. Vodafone has approached the court seeking interim relief against DoT’s decision.
Also Read: TDSAT asks Vodafone India to accept fresh permits
In the meantime, the UK based company reported a subscriber base of 174 million customers for the six months ending 30 September 2014. On the other hand, the spectrum auction for telecom services is expected to start from February 23, 2015,
Lastly, the next round of auctions for spectrum held by mobile operators - Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Communication are due in February as some of their licences are set to expire in 2015-16.
