The GSM mobile operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and their lobby group, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), on Friday suffered a setback with the Delhi High Court dismissing their plea against the government decision on use of dual technology and revised spectrum norms.

Friday?s verdict was on the earlier TDSAT decision not to stay the government?s decision in the two issues. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) will now resume hearing on the legality of the government?s decision with the final hearing on September 4.

The verdict comes five months after the court reserved its judgement on one of the fiercest corporate battles fought in the telecom space.

The court also levied a cost of Rs 50,000 each on the six petitioners, stating, ?government decision was in tandem with the universal access service licence (UASL) and in public interest.? The money will be deposited with the Delhi High Court Legal Service Authority.

COAI director-general T V Ramachandran refused to comment whether or not the operators would go for an appeal in the Supreme Court. However, industry observers say the body is unlikely to do so.

CDMA operators like Reliance Communications Ltd (RComm) and Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL), which are the major beneficiaries of the dual technology policy, can now breathe a sigh of relief as a stay order would have put a stop to their GSM plans immediately. The two companies have already started implementing their plans to roll out GSM services, with RComm planning to complete it by next year-end and TTSL initially rolling out in six circles and completing the rest as and when it gets spectrum for the remaining circles.

COAI had challenged in TDSAT the department of telecommunications? (DoT) order on October 18-19 last year that permitted dual technology under UASL (allowing CDMA operators to provide GSM services and vice-versa) and adopted the enhanced subscriber-linked criteria for spectrum allocation. Both the decisions were based on the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The operators moved the Delhi High Court when TDSAT, in December, refused to stay the government?s decision, saying it was a policy matter.

COAI?s position is that the dual technology operation should be open only for new operators, and not for existing players, as they didn?t need the start-up spectrum. However, the CDMA players refuted this by saying that it was the GSM players who were holding more spectrum than is permitted under their licences.

While COAI had preferred the wireless planning and coordination (WPC) wing?s criteria, which recommended allocation of 10 MHz spectrum for 16 lakh subscribers in Delhi, the Telecom Engineering Centre suggested the same amount of radio waves for 48 lakh subscribers. DoT, on its part, went for the Trai formula.

COAI had pressed for a stay order as it felt that the crucial spectrum should only be allocated once the matter is decided by TDSAT. However, the government said that it had allocated spectrum to the existing players, new licencees as well as companies which were opting for dual technology.

The court?s decision was welcomed by the CDMA operators? lobby group, the Association of Unified Service Providers of India?s secretary general S C Khanna.