Raja has misled Parliament: CPM

A Raja

By Our Correspondent

The CPI(M) has accused minister of communications A Raja of misleading the Parliament while replying to members questions on whether the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) or the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have raised any objection with regard to the allocation of spectrum to 2G telecom service providers on a ‘first come first served’ basis. The CPI(M) in a statement today said that in a reply to a question in Parliament, the minister has claimed that neither the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) nor the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have raised any objection to the allocation of spectrum to 2G Telecom Service Providers on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

“This is nothing but an attempt to mislead the Parliament, obfuscate matters and conceal the truth,” said the CPI(M).

The left party said that in a letter dated 15.11.2008, the CVC had expressed dissatisfaction over an earlier response of the Department of Telecom (DoT) to the Commission’s queries on the policy for the allocation of spectrum (Annex A). The CVC had asked for specific clarifications on various issues related to spectrum allocation, including licensees like Swan selling their equity at high values to Etisalat without making any progress in operationalising mobile telephony, terming this as a “highly unethical practise”.

As far as the TRAI is concerned, the CPI(M) said, its recommendations of October 2003 clearly state that new licenses have to be allocated through a multi-stage auction process. “The DoT has violated this recommendation while allocating new licenses to 2G telecom service providers on a ‘first come first served’ basis. The TRAI had in fact repeatedly warned the DoT; both before the Letters of Intent (LoIs) were issued, as well as after 120 LoIs were issued on 10.01.2008, about the legal provisions relating to implementing TRAI recommendations,” the CPI(M) said. The TRAI had said on 28.08.2007: “The entry fee as it exists today is, in fact, a result of the price discovered through a markets based mechanism in 2001. In today’s dynamism and unprecedented growth of telecom sector, the entry fee determined then is not the realistic price for a license now.