Telecom minister A. Raja will meet the heads of telecom companies and Internet service providers from tomorrow to discuss issues such as spectrum allocation and the CBI probe into irregularities in the grant of licences.
Sources said the meetings would be held over three days.
Officials of the department of telecom (DoT) said, “The main agenda of the meetings is to assure operators, especially the foreign players, of a smooth and transparent 3G auction process.”
The 3G service rollout is expected to attract foreign players and provide around Rs 35,000 crore to the government.
The process is facing some hurdles that threaten to delay the auction, which the government is keen to complete by the end of this fiscal.
Funds from the auction are expected to plug the government’s fiscal deficit, estimated at 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product for 2009-10.
One of the issues is the delay in the vacation of spectrum by the defence authorities. Raja has sought finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention.
“If this issue is not resolved quickly, I apprehend that the revenues anticipated from 3G auction may not be forthcoming this year,” Raja had stated in a letter to Mukherjee.
3G mobile phone services allow users to surf the Internet and download digital content at speeds faster than current technologies.
However, the defence controversy has been swamped by the CBI investigation into the allocation of 2G spectrum to the new players in January 2008 and the consequent raids on the office of the DoT.
The Opposition parties have trained their guns at Raja, with the BJP demanding his resignation.
On the scheduled meetings with Raja, an executive from a top telecom firm said, “We will take the opportunity to seek clarity on policy directions regarding 3G auction, spectrum allocation, licence fees and other issues in the wake of the CBI investigation.”
The auction is scheduled to begin on January 14, and firms will have to submit their bids by December 21.
CBI’s investigation was ordered by the Central Vigilance Commission, which had received several complaints about irregularities in the allotment of licences.
CBI officials said they would examine all the records relating to spectrum allocation.
Raja has refuted the allegations of any “wrongdoing”, stating that the licences and the spectrum had been allocated in accordance with the telecom policy.
Last week, Raja slammed the NDA for causing the government huge losses through the auction of spectrum during its regime.
“On record it has been observed that the licence fee was brought down to Rs 1,000 crore to benefit some operators. The allocation and reduced licence fee are estimated to have cost Rs 1 lakh crore to the government,” Raja had said.
On irregularities in awarding 2G licences, Raja said the spectrum was given in compliance with the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was consulted, while the exercise had the “clear approval” of the solicitor-general.
The government is keen on foreign firms participating in the 3G auction, which will bolster its collections and give it the much needed funds for its ambitious social sector programmes. It has asked foreign entities to participate in the auctions directly and later apply for licences.
Foreign firms participation in a recent auction for oil blocks has been lukewarm. Only four had bid for the offshore blocks.
SUDEEP SINGH
PGDM IIISEM
SEC-B
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