Pranab nudges Telenor to participate in 2G auction

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has urged Norwegian telecom major Telenor to participate in the 2G spectrum auction as directed by the Supreme Court and assured early completion of the auctioning process by the government.

The finance minister gave the assurance during a meeting with a business delegation led by Norwegian trade and industry minister Trond Giske and Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas.

The union cabinet today also approved a presidential reference on the key questions as to what would happen to companies like Norway's Telenor, which did not participate in the bidding but had invested in a joint venture to launch 2G services as also on the fate of the licences that have been granted using the first come, first served basis.

While the government had earlier said the auctioning would take minimum of 400 days, Mukherjee clarified that the government ''will try to finish the process at the earliest.''

He said the process of re-auctioning is necessary as the government should follow the directions of the Supreme Court in the 2G case.

Telenor, which operates under the brand name Uninor, has was the worst hit with the company losing all its licences following the Supreme Court's order to cancel all 122 licences issued in the 2008 bidding round.