The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the sectoral tribunal’s order that allowed private telecom operators, including Tata Teleservices, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, to offer 3G services under a roaming arrangement in areas where they did not win spectrum in a 2010 auction. The agreements allowed the telcos to offer 3G services using airwaves the other operators had won for a fee.
However, a bench headed by Justice Jasti Chelameswar said “all the rights and obligations arising out of the judgment will be subject to final outcome of the appeal”.
Earlier this month, the court had sought a reply from telcos after the Centre challenged the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal’s April 29 order that overturned a DoT ban on offering 3G mobile services beyond their licensed zones through roaming pacts, on the ground that it was in national interest to allow better utilisation of scarce radio frequency.