Norwegian firm Telenor, the majority partner in Uninor, has asked Sanjay Chandra to step down from the post of Chairman of Unitech Wireless in the wake of ongoing 2G court case.
Norway-based telecom company Telenor has raised its stake in its Indian joint venture with Unitech Wireless to 60.1 percent from 49 percent at an investment of Rs 1,493 crore.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday informed the Delhi high court that its appeal against the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and 16 others in the 2G spectrum allocation case was 'ripe for hearing'.
Unitech has already got a stay on the rights issue from the Gurgaon district court, while Telenor's appeal against this decision has been declined by the Punjab and Haryana high court.
Sanjay Chandra is also the chairman of mobile telephony operator Unitech Wireless, which is one of the companies that are said to have made a windfall in the allocation of 2G spectrum.
The phenomenon is a little difficult to explain. According to the Supreme Court's order, all telecom service licences given in 2008, during the A Raja regime, have to be cancelled by June 2. The licencees will have to return the spectrum they received to host telephony services.
The new deal puts the enterprise value -- the sum of a company's market capitalisation plus debt minus cash - of this new-generation mobile services company floated by Delhi-headquartered real estate major Unitech at Rs 10,520 crore (Rs 105.2 billion), against Rs 11,620 crore (Rs 116.2 billion) in the agreement signed on October 28, 2008. At the adjusted rate, the company's equity value stands at Rs 9,100 crore (Rs 91 billion).
Board of directors of Unitech Wireless to clear name on Tuesday.
Telenor suggested that he be replaced by another representative of the promoters.
Says got govt clearance in investments in Unitech Wireless.
The Delhi high court will pronounce its verdict on Friday on whether to admit the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) appeal challenging the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, firms and others in the 2G spectrum allocation 'scam' case.
Uninor and Etisalat DB were given preferential treatment by A Raja, says CBI
In contrast to their lavish lifestyle, all the five spent their night in a 90 square feet Tihar prison cell.
The five were not arrested during the probe into the case.
The corporate honchos who are behind bars for their alleged involvement in the 2G scam will have to celebrate Diwali in jail as the Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing on their bail pleas to Octocer 31.
The new telecom players in the country, which had received licences in January 2008 and were subsequently allocated spectrum, are ready to roll out services in the next three to four months.
Trai has recommended cancellation of 74 licences, including Unitech Wireless's 8, Aircel/Dishnet's 7, Etisalat DB's 2, Videocon's 4, Spice's 3, Vodafone's 1, among others.
Perceived till recently as low-budget and low-margin, the domestic market now means big business to Indian IT majors.
After building a subscriber base of nearly 50 million in about eight chequered years, it finally gave up as it saw itself up against a 600-pound gorilla that breezed through double that many subscribers in a fraction of that time, says N Sundaresha Subramanian.
The mobile tariffs in the world's cheapest telecom market are set to fall further by at least 20-25 per cent during the year, more so due to increasing number of telecom operators and infrastructure overcapacity.
If the deal goes through, this would be the second largest deal for Wipro in the telecom space. Earlier in April, the IT major bagged a Rs 2,500-crore (Rs 25 billion) contract from another new operator, Unitech Wireless. Importantly, Wipro will be pipping seven other IT vendors, including IBM and Tech Mahindra, who were also in discussions with Etisalat, according to sources.
With the managing director out on bail & being questioned in relation to the 2G spectrum scam, the company is still not out of the mess.
Admitting the Central Bureau of Investigation appeal, the high court said there are "some contradictions" in the trial court's judgment which require "deeper examination".
He allegedly advanced the cut-off date to favour accused firms in allocation of 2G licences.
The Norway-based firm, Telenor, entered India through a joint venture with Unitech Wireless.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the parties shall file brief written submissions not exceeding five pages.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
The CBI contended before the Delhi high court on Tuesday that there were glaring illegalities in the trial court judgment that acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate's pleas seeking an early hearing into the appeals challenging the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja had "misled" then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding policy of first-come-first-served which was to be followed for allocation of 2G spectrum, Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court.
The accused had also requested the court to take on record the written answers afresh.
'The transactions were done in a circuitous route deliberately and most of the companies involved in it are Reliance ADA group firms.'
The Department of Telecom has worked out a one-time spectrum charge of over Rs 2,060 crore to be levied from operators for the period they remained in business after their licences were cancelled in February last year, sources said.
Balwa, who is accused along with 16 others in the case, claimed that he cannot be prosecuted for pushing back Tata in the race as the firm was never in the race to get the 2G spectrum licence
A special court on Thursday acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases. The scam relates to the granting of 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08 which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Here is a detailed timeline of how the case came to light and how it has progressed over the years:
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi on Thursday sought the dismissal of a Central Bureau of Investigation plea seeking special court's permission to summon some additional witnesses, including Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Rajeshwar Singh, in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The telephone subscriber base was 996.49 million at the end of March.
The court said a 'scam was created when there was none'.
The CMM was appointed as commissioner to record 84-year-old Ammal's testimony by a Special CBI Court, holding trial in the case, in the wake of the Supreme Court's direction.
Year 2013 saw business leaders facing the ire of hostile investigative agencies.
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