The Supreme Court has allowed spectrum auctions to go ahead as proposed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on March 4, 2015. This comes after several telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Reliance Communications had sought extension of licences expiring in December 2015. The Supreme Court has now directed these telecom companies to participate in the forthcoming spectrum auctions.

Earlier, in January 2015, the court had refused to put stay on sale of spectrum in the auctions as sought by the companies, which were seeking extension of their existing licences. While Vodafone had sought extension of 10 years for its licences in six circles, Bharti Airtel had sought such an extension in five circles.

The telecom companies were of the view that until adequate spectrum, as recommended by the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), was made available, the licensees whose permits are due to expire may be allowed to continue to use their existing spectrum holdings. They had also asked for the auctions to be conducted when adequate spectrum was available, thereby facilitating continuity of services. The companies had argued that DoT had no legal right to put the allocated spectrum to auction as the service provider is entitled to extension of its licences along with already allotted spectrum for its continued usage.