The Comtroller And Auditor General has slammed the Department of
Telecom for allowing intr-circle roaming arrangements for 2G spectrum
which caused huge loss to the excheuer.This was also the reason for the
lacklustre response to the government’s recent attempts to auction
second-generation airwaves.
The audit note sent to DOT has blamed various decisions of the
Telecom ministry for the lukewarm response to the government’s
attempt to sell 2G airwaves in November,2012 and Mach,2013.
The CAG ,earlier had said. that THE 2G AUCTIOND HAD FLOUNDERED
AS THE TELECOM COMPANIES ACTED AS A CARTEL AND THE GOVT.
WITTINGLY OR UNWITTINGLY,AIDED THE COMPNIES BY NOT ACTING
AGAINST THEM.
In the latest audit note, the CAG has stated that the policy note issued
in 2008 during the tenure of former telecom minister A.Raja,led to loss
of thousands of crore to the excheuer since the operators have been
sharing spectrum under the garb of intr-circle roaming arrangements
without paying spectrum usage charges.
Now the Empowered Group of Ministers has asked TRAI to recommend
within 60 days the fresh(reduced) reserve prices for the ensuing auction
of airwaves.The Cellular Operators Association of India has welcomed the
decision and even offered help to Trai to fix the reserve price.
It is better to ask the private telecom companies to fix the price themselves
And that would be the ideal way of serving the corporates!o