New Delhi, Nov 17: The Supreme Court on Friday fixed today for hearing cellular operators' application seeking stay of the WLL operations in view of the government's decision to implement the controversial Unified Access Licence regime, which they alleged would give fixed service providers like Reliance the benefit of full mobility.
When the application by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) was mentioned by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, a bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice G P Mathur posted it for hearing today.
Seeking permission of the court to bring on record recent developments after filing of their appeal challenging an order of Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which had been admitted by the apex court, the COAI has sought a direction to the government to maintain status quo regarding the number and type of cellular mobile licences issued separately or along with any other type of licence.
Terming the Unified Access Licence regime as "improper, incorrect, unreasonable and unfair", the COAI said that the decision has been carried out with a predetermined mind and with "unseemly haste" to benefit only one set of telecom operators.
They said the recent decision of the Cabinet was violative of the National Telecom Policy -1999 as well as the contractual provisions of the agreement between the cellular operators and the government.


Bureau Report