New Delhi (dpa) – The Indian government Friday asked the Supreme Court to review its ruling cancelling 122 telecommunications licenses issued in 2008 saying it could leave 69 million mobile users stranded, news reports said. The Supreme Court on February 2 had ruled that the licenses were issued by former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja without following proper bidding procedures and cancelled them. The 122 licenses were held by nine companies, including joint ventures between Indian companies and Norway's Telenor ASA, United Arab Emirates' Etisalat Co and Russia's JSFC Sistema. The Supreme Court judgment said the affected licenses would remain valid for four months during which time the country's telecom regulator was to make recommendations for a fresh auction. The government Friday sought a review of its judgment from the court saying it would need at least 400 days to organize an auction, CNN-IBN news channel reported citing a Telecommunications Department official. “As the licenses/spectrum can be issued only in and around March 2013 and the licenses stand quashed with effect from June 2, 2012, there will be an inevitable disruption in services,” the government said in its review application, the Indian Express newspaper reported on its website. A government auditor had said the allegedly irregular licenses sale in 2008 could have cost up to 39 billion dollars. Raja, who is currently in jail facing trial in the case, on Friday sought a review of the court's February 2 judgment. Review petitions have also been filed by affected telecom companies Tata Teleservices Ltd and Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Cg1AR Tags: India, Licenses, Telecoms Section: South Asia, Tech
