Ray of Hope For Uninor & MTS?

The recent Commerce Ministry proposal to give the operators like Uninor and Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. the option to match auction price instead of participating in the auction should be like a ray of hope to the telcos who want to continue in the Indian market. (See Economic Times.

After the cancellation of 122 licenses by Supreme Court in February this year, players like Uninor and MTS have tried their best to come out with a solution to continue their operations in Indian market. (See The Great Indian Telecom Tamasha, Uninor Moves SC to Conclude Auctions by June 2, New Telcos Adopt Quit India Policy and No Summer For Indian Telecom.)

Even if they are able to continue with their operations there is no denying the fact that they have suffered immensely as a result of the recent turn of the events. Both MTS and Uninor lost a substantial number of subscribers and the latter had to scale down their operations in four circles.

One hopes that they are able to continue with their operations in the Indian market. After putting in substantial investment in India and garnering significant number of subscribers it is unfair to put an abrupt end to their Indian odyssey. A school of thought further argues that these companies followed the process prescribed by the Government and got the necessary approvals before starting their operations, so they should not be penalised.

What has really helped Uninor and MTS is that the Governments of Norway and Russia have significant stakes in their Indian venture and there is a diplomatic pressure on the Indian Government to resolve the issues at the earliest.

It is also important for India that these companies continue their operations. We, as a country, stand to lose a lot because it sends a wrong signal to the entire world.

Gagandeep Kaur, Editor, Light Reading India