TDSAT allows RCom to sell spectrum to Jio, telco to repay Ericsson

The telecom tribunal has allowed Reliance Commuinications (RCom) to sell its spectrum by staying the demand of bank guarantees worth Rs 2900 crore from telecom department . The tribunal's order will bring relief to the telco which can now go ahead and sell its spectrum to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) and complete its asset monetisation process."Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) has been granted reliefby the Hon’ble Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) vide its Interim Order dated 1st October 2018, whereby Hon’ble TDSAT has stayed the demand of Bank Guarantee (BG) of Rs. 2,900 Crore by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)," said the Anil Ambani owned telco in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. RCom said with the sale of the spectrum, it will be able to pay Ericcsson its Rs 550 crore and minority shareholders of subsidiary Relaince Infratel about Rs 230 crore, as per settlement agreement. "38 Secured Lenders of RCOM Group have already approved the sale of the abovespectrum, and the proceeds thereof will be used for making payments to Ericsson India Private Limited and to RITL Minority Investors, as per settlement terms," said the telco which is under a debt of Rs 46,000 crore . RCom had blamed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for creating hurdles in its bid to sell spectrum to Reliance Jio which in turn has prevented the operator from paying offits settlement amount. DoT demanded spectrum related dues from the telco and had said it would not allow the sale to go through otherwsie And since the telco did not meet its payment deadline, Ericsson filed a contempt of court against chairman Anil Ambani. The Supreme Court will hear the case between Swedish telecom equipment maker and RCom on Thursday.

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