PMO steps in to untie telecom FDI knot

The Prime Minister's Office has stepped in to untie the knot of Press Note 5, 2005, as well as to ensure that the group of ministers on spectrum starts work without further delay.

The prime minister's principal secretary has summoned department of telecommunications (DoT) Secretary DS Mathur for a meeting on October 5 to discuss these issues. Sources said the proposed meeting signified the PMO's concerns on both fronts.

While Press Note 5 has become a bone of contention among ministries as well the telecom industry, the non-functioning ministerial panel on spectrum is seen as a direct rebuttal by the ministry of communications of a PMO initiative.

In fact, the DoT had controversially changed the terms of reference for the ministerial panel by deleting the clause that stated the body "would suggest guidelines to encourage and incentivise introduction of spectrum-efficient technologies".

Headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the group of ministers was constituted on the instructions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last November.

The group was supposed to finalise a new spectrum policy and included Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, apart from Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

However, while no meetings were held, the DoT went ahead and announced a new spectrum allocation policy linked to operators' subscriber base on March 31. The policy came without the ministerial group's recommendations.

Mobile operators had slammed the new norms and said the DoT had shifted the goal post.