Telenor allowed to offset licence fee

Norwegian telecoms group Telenor has been granted permission to offset payment for spectrum rights purchased by its Indian subsidiary Telewings/Uninor in the November 2012 re-auction by INR16.6 billion (USD276.7 million), the Economic Times writes. Uninor was amongst the providers to have its concessions revoked by the Supreme Court in February 2012 in relation to allegations of foul play during the allocation of licences in 2008, forcing it to re-purchase its concessions in order to continue offering services. The Empowered Group of Ministers decided in October 2012 that operators repurchasing cancelled licences would be allowed to offset the cost renewal by the amount they had paid in 2008. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, however, Telenor split from its former partner Unitech Wireless and bid through a newly-created company, dubbed Telewings. As the companies that took part in the 2008 and 2012 auctions were two separate entities, it was unclear whether Telenor would be eligible to offset its payment.