KARACHI: As the battle for renewal of licences of two giant telecom operators continues, one player has specified that it does not believe that any late payment penalties will be applicable in the matter.

While talking to Dawn, a spokesman for Telenor said that the company submitted its renewal proposal for its operator licence shortly before the deadline and after the company opted for legal intervention in the ongoing matter of licence renewal with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

“Any delays in the completion of the renewal process, despite our efforts for speedy resolution, do not warrant any late payment surcharge” the spokesman said.

The company believes that late payment penalties in the matter of licence fees are applicable only if there is an operators’ inability to pay. “This cannot be related to current situation or Telenor Pakistan’s legal position” he told Dawn, “where delay is not on account of the operators’ default.”

Telenor and Jazz are both embroiled in a drawn out battle with the regulator for renewal of their licences. The telecoms say that they are legally entitled to renewal at the same price at which they acquired the licences in 2004, whereas the regulator says they need to pay based on prices emerging from spectrum auctions in recent years. Both have taken a legal course.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2019