COAI asks DoT to identify promoters

In the wake of an increase in the applications for telecom licences, the GSM operators' association is demanding "unmasking" of the corporates who have applied through subsidiaries and other companies.

In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has expressed its apprehensions that some of the companies that have applied for spectrum could be circumventing rules. The association has asked the DoT to lift the "veil of corporates".

"It is apprehended that associated companies are used to defeat telecom policy objectives and licence conditions. It is mandatory for the DoT to lift the corporate veil and ignore the separate corporate personality of each company," the letter stated. 
 

LICENSED TO GROW
Company	No of  licences	Date of  application
HFCL	21	May 2007
Spice	20	August 2006
ByCell	5	January 2006
Swan Telecom	14	Jan, March 2007
Cheetah	2	March 2007
Parsvnath	22	August 2007
BPL	21	September 2007

LICENCES ISSUED IN DECEMBER 2006 BUT AWAITING SPECTRUM ALLOCATION
Company	No of licences
Aircel and Dishnet Wireless	14
Idea Cellular	1
Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd	1
Essar Spacetel	6

Stating that a number of companies had recently applied for unified access service licences (UASL), the association opined that some of these applications could have been submitted to circumvent the telecom policy and licence restrictions.

The telecom policy recognises that spectrum is a limited national resource. No single company or a group of associated companies can be permitted to monopolise spectrum in any service area. In this context, it is imperative for the DoT to ensure that the objectives of the telecom policy and the terms of licence conditions are not circumvented through the use of corporate personality.

According to the rules, no company or its associates can have equity holding of more than 10 per cent in more than one licensee company in the same service area for basic, cellular or unified access services.

About seven companies, including HFCL, Spice Communications, ByCell and Parsvnath, have applied for UASL licences that permit them to offer 2G services in the country.

Four operators were issued licences in December 2006, but were awaiting allocation of spectrum.