The Indian government will hold a third round of tendering to select private firms to operate basic telephone services in nine of 21 zones, and will issue letters of intent to the two companies which already won licences to operate basic telephone services in five other zones: the Supreme Court rejected a set of petitions challenging the government’s telephone privatisation programme (CI 2,831) and lifted a freeze it had put on the awarding of new licences; the government will send letters of intent to HFCL Bezeq Telecom Ltd and Hughes Ispat, telling them they will get licences to operate basic services in the five zones they had captured; HFCL Bezeq, whose consortium members include Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd and Bezeq Israel Telecom Ltd, had won Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh West and Orissa but had not been awarded their licences; anti-government petitioners had said government policy unfairly favoured Bezeq (CI No 2,831); Hughes Ispat, whose partners include Nippon Denro Ispat Ltd and Hughes/Altell Corp, won Maharashtra; no date was given for the third round of the bidding.
