Supreme Court to hear plea against WLL telephony

Monday, 17 November 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear Monday an application seeking a stay of wireless in local loop (WLL) services in the country. The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has sought the stay on the ground the government's decision to implement an unified access licence regime would give fixed service providers like Reliance the benefit of full mobility. A bench comprising judges S. Rajendra Babu and G.P. Mathur Friday posted the plea for hearing Monday after hearing COAI counsel Ram Jethmalani. Seeking permission of the court to bring on record recent developments after the filing of their appeal against an order of Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), the COAI has sought a direction to the government to maintain the status quo on the number and type of cellular mobile licences issued separately or with other types of licences. The application termed the unified access licence regime improper, incorrect, unreasonable and unfair and said that the decision had been carried out with a predetermined mind and with "unseemly haste" to benefit only one set of telecom operators. It sought directions to maintain the present regime of service-specific licensing until a conclusive adjudication of the disputes raised in the appeal. These included the determination of the contractual, constitutional, statutory, legal and other rights of cellular operators. The cellular operators submitted the government's decision on a unified licence regime violated the National Telecom Policy, as also their contractual provisions with the Government.
Source: IANS
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