Ministry will consider cancellation of licences: Sibal
By IANSFriday, November 19, 2010
NEW DELHI - Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said his ministry will consider the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to cancel the 2G licences allotted since December 2006.
“We will consider it,” Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of the HT Leadership Summit 2010 here.
In a new twist to the controversy that led to the resignation of A. Raja as the telecom minister and IT Sunday evening, India’s telecom watchdog Thursday recommended scrapping of 69 of the 130 licences given for 2G phone services since December 2006.
“The roll-out of services on these licences has failed to comply with the set norms. Six companies had been given these 69 licenses,” a senior official of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said.
Of the 69 licences, 20 have been issued to Loop Telecom, 15 to Etisalat DB, 11 to Sistema-Shyam, 10 to Videocon, eight to Uninor and five to Aircel.
A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has indicted then communications minister A. Raja for irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation, causing the exchequer a loss of Rs.1.76 trillion ($40 billion).
