Ever since new players like Unitech, Swan Telecom (now Etisalat), Loop
Telecom, Sistema Shyam, Datacom, Spice Telecom and some others were given a
license, as a fourth operator, on a first-come-first-serve basis, many in the
industry have been crying foul. And alleging a big scam.
The charge was that this was in violation of Trai's recommendation that new
licences be granted only through auctions. It is also said that Indian telecom
minister A Raja, further deviated from Trai's 2007 recommendation that said that
“any proposal of permission of merger and acquisition should not be entertained
until the rollout obligation is met”. Companies like Swan and Unitech, despite
not meeting their rollout obligations, offload 45% and 60% equity in favor of
their foreign telecom partners.
While telecom minister A Raja says that all decisions have been taken in
accordance with procedures laid down by Trai and in consultation with the Prime
Minister, the truth may lie somewhere else. And as usual, nothing is going to
come out of the current hue and cry-the minister will not take responsibility or
resign-some enquiry will be reluctantly set up that will never come out with any
substantive findings, and the media and the people will forget about it.
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| Ibrahim ahmad |
The alleged telecom scam, valued at about Rs 60,000 crore in various forms,
is definitely not a great beginning to UPA government's second innings. It will
be very difficult for the Prime Minister and the ruling Congress Party to
convince people that CBI, which works under the Home Ministry, raided Department
of Telecom (DoT) offices which is part of their Telecom Ministry, and another
nineteen offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Mohali, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Chennai,
and Noida of private operators, without charges that were serious and big.
Nobody will believe it. And even if some small officials in the ministry are
identified and charged, everybody knows that telecom licenses are not given
until there is the minister's stamp on it.
One important aspect that must not be missed in this is that our government
continues to see telecom in India as the hen that lays golden eggs. It wants to
milk the operators dry knowing very well that operators will simply pass on
these charges to consumers. This is very unfortunate. Manmohan Singh must
remember that telecom today touches the heart of 400 mn people, most of whom are
voters. These people might not fully understand the finer details of the scam
and the impact it will have on their lives, but will not forgive the government
if they are affected.
The industry is going through a challenging time grappling with news about
such mega scams at the government level, and financial audit frauds by some of
the leading private operators. At a time when more reforms are what everybody is
eagerly waiting for, such scams will only slow down the country's growth. What
we need now are leaders-in government as well as in the telecom industry-who see
telecom not as a short-term goldmine but as a tool that will empower the
country's people and organizations to lead the world. In my opinion, we should
not worry too much about the Rs 60,000 crore that the government lost. Instead
we must worry more about the much bigger money the country could earn if we have
a good, long-term, people centric telecom plan.
(ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in)