Telecom Commission plans to permit sale of telecom licences
By Our Economy Bureau | 20 Feb 2003
New Delhi: India’s Telecom Commission has approved, in principle, to permit the sale of telecom licences and the department of telecommunications (DoT) will move a cabinet note to this effect.
Till
now, licensee companies could transfer equity but not
the licence. This illiquidity of the licence comes in
the way of mergers and demergers of telecom companies.
The new rule will remove a key obstacle to consolidation
in the industry.
“The commission has decided that the transfer of licences at any point of time will be permitted. However, it should be subject to certain conditions,” says a DoT official.
The
new entity to which the licence will be transferred should
be eligible for the grant of a fresh licence for that
particular service. Further, all terms and conditions
of the licence, including the complete rollout obligation,
will apply to the transferee company irrespective of the
time at which such transfer takes place.