Shiv Sena does a volte-face on spectrum policy

Taking a view contrary from its earlier stand that spectrum for telecom operations should be auctioned, the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party has now told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government that it should not auction 2G spectrum as recommended by the telecom regulator.

In a letter to Singh on November 25, the Shiv Sena called for auctioning of all spectrum.

However, its second letter says, "It has been brought to our notice that Trai has not recommended auction of 2G spectrum (800-900-1800 MHz) and this view has been accepted by DoT. Our view is that the government should go by the existing policies, practices and procedure and allocate spectrum on a non-discriminatory basis."

The party has also urged the government to ensure that the technical committee formed recently to review the concerns of the GSM and CDMA mobile companies is not pressured by any lobby.

However, the party has maintained that in line with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai's) recommendations, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) must auction spectrum for 3G and WiMax.