In another attack on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Rajya Sabha Member Abani Roy has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a probe into the allotment of additional spectrum to GSM service operators.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader has accused various top-level officials of the DoT of manipulating government rules and regulations to issue additional spectrum to some GSM operators without seeking additional payment.
DoT Secretary Siddhartha Behura said he did not receive any communication of such sort and added: “All additional spectrum allotment was done as per the guidelines. We have also approved the one-time spectrum acquisition fee and have hiked fees by 1-2 per cent of mobile operators’ revenue for using additional airwaves.”
The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), the GSM lobby group, declined to comment on the issues due to the on-going case in the Telecom Disputes Settlement And Appellate Tribunal.
Roy has also said that the allotment of spectrum beyond 6.2 Mhz to GSM players like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea has cost the exchequer Rs 40,000 crore. “Like many others, I have written many letters to the prime minister which have not been responded to as yet. However, given the current situation of unrest in the country, we will let them (the government) enquire on this issue in time,” he said.
This is the latest in a series of attacks on Communications Minister A Raja for the alleged unfair allocation of excess spectrum as well as the low valuation of spectrum. Recently, the Left parties as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had alleged there was a scam in the allotment of licences for 2G mobile services. The Left alleged that the government lost over Rs 60,000 crore by giving licences to eight operators at very low costs.
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In his letter, Roy wrote, “Such indiscriminate and illegal allocation of spectrum to these select group of GSM operators by the officials of DoT, after manipulating the government guidelines, in the last 4-5 years needs investigation of the highest level”.
A Delhi-based NGO, Telecom Watchdog, also recently filed a petition to the Delhi High Court on the issue of allocation of excess spectrum to incumbent telcos. The NGO asked for an increase in the charges for spectrum allocated in excess of the contracted amount. It also urged the court to direct DoT to implement TEC norms for allocating additional spectrum, which is given based on subscriber figure.