Vodafone India, has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Department of Telecommunications' decision to auction the 900 MHz spectrum that is held by the GSM operator. Vodafone India in its petition, said the licensor’s move comes at a time when its applications for licence extension are pending.
“Vodafone believes that it is entitled to a fair and reasonable extension of its license as per mutually agreeable terms. Both the policy and license provide for continuity and this action of DoT to arbitrarily withdraw the 900MHz spectrum is not only against the provisions of policy and license but also disruptive and against public interest,” the company said in a statement.
The company has invested more than Rs 50,000 crore in India, it said. “Vodafone remains committed to providing quality and affordable telecom solutions to its almost 150 million customers across the country while contributing thousands of crores to national exchequer in the form of license fee, spectrum charges, direct and indirect taxes among others,” the statement said.
The 900MHz spectrum forms the foundation of the network and on which Vodafone has built its telecommunication networks and infrastructure. The company has been providing telecom services using this spectrum over the 18 years to more than 18.7 million subscribers.
The Department of Telecommunications was expecting to raise about Rs 20,000 crore from the second round of 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz band spectrum auction expected in this financial year, even though the date for the auction is yet to be announced.
