TDSAT adjourns Qualcomm plea hearing in BWA spectrum case

Telecom tribunal TDSAT today adjourned the hearing over the plea of Qualcomm after DoT and the US-based chip maker sought more time over the Rs 146 crore demand by the government from its partner Tulip Telecom.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) posted the matter to December 19 for next hearing.

During the proceedings, counsel of the Department of Telecom (DoT) requested for some time to go through the reply filed by Tulip Telecom over the Rs 146-crore dues claimed by the government.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm's counsel informed the bench that the dues claimed are based on the gross revenue of Tulip Telecom and include interest as well.

He submitted that most of Rs 146 crore demand consists of non-telecom business of Tulip, a 13% shareholder in the consortium which had bid for the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.

The tribunal was hearing the petition of Qualcomm, which has challenged the DoT notice for cancelling the allotment of BWA spectrum in four circles that it bagged last year through auction.

Qualcomm's application for licence was rejected by DoT on the basis that it had made four nominees for the spectrum. The company was fearing that its licence may be revoked and spectrum may be allotted to someone else.

During the last hearing on December 2, Qualcomm had sought time to verify the authenticity of the dues claimed by DoT and said that if that was correct, then would pay it.

DoT had also informed the TDSAT that if the dues were verified and cleared by them, then the ISP licence would be given to Qualcomm within a day.

DoT had further submitted that after granting of ISP licence, Qualcomm would have to apply for spectrum and it would be given in two weeks.

On November 8, TDSAT had directed representatives of Qualcomm and DoT to meet and resolve their differences over grant of BWA spectrum.

Qualcomm had bagged BWA spectrum for Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala circles and LoIs were allotted to it.