Sistema Shyam applies for participating in spectrum auction

Telecom operator Sistema Shyam Teleservices (STSL) on Monday submitted its application to bid for CDMA spectrum in the upcoming auction.

"SSTL is committed to its operations in India. The company today submitted its application to participate in the 800 Mhz spectrum auctions in March 2013," SSTL, which provides services under MTSbrand, said in a statement.

Details related to the company's application such as the number of circles in which it plans to bid for radiowaves could not ascertained immediately.

"Post auctions with the operational footprint clearly defined, the plan is to focus on SSTL's data centric-voice enabled strategy in select circles and build an even stronger MTS brand in India," SSTL added.

Last week, the company had announced closing down operations in 10 circles -- Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab - and asked customers to switch to other telecom operators of their choice.

Its 21 of the 22 licences were among the l22 permits cancelled by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012 in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

As per the order, the company will be able to continue operations only in those circles where it secures spectrum in the auction.