2G: Govt on to BJP,will probe spectrum allocation from 2001

“There are several terms of references,which will be finalised with the one-man committee.”

Sibal said the committee will look into various procedures followed in issuing licences during the 2001-09 period.

“Broadly speaking,we are looking at the internal departmental procedures adopted by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) during the period 2001-09 with the issuance,access service licences and allocation of spectrum to all Telecom access service licencees during the above period,” he said.

He said the committee will examine procedures,policies and direction of the DoT and the government,and if they were consistently followed or not.

Sibal said the task of the committee would be to check whether the procedure was fair and transparent keeping with the principles of justice,identify instances of lack of transparency,deficiency in procedures,lapses at the policy level and procedural level.

The panel will also look at “whether there were any violation of the policies that were laid down by the DoT itself and then of course remedial measures in that regard,” Sibal added.

The minister said the one-man committee will have the right to call for records,any DoT officials,get a briefing on any matter.

Amid debate over whether spectrum should be auctioned or not,Sibal said the sector should not be viewed as a source of revenue for the Finance Ministry as the high cost of radio waves may prohibit telcos from providing low tariffs.

“The Telecom sector should not be viewed as a source of revenue,especially in the context of the debate taking place today. Everybody is looking at the Telecom sector as a source for earning money for the finance ministry,” Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of India Telecom 2010.

Government policies of allotting 2G spectrum bundled with the licences and not auctioning has created a big controversy,with the government auditor alleging that non-auctioning of scarce spectrum may have caused a revenue loss of up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.

The government had distributed 122 licences in 2008 during former Telecom Minister A Raja’s regime at Rs 1,651 crore for pan-India operations. Raja resigned in the wake of row over 2G spectrum allocation scam.

He added we must also ensure that the industry had enough money to invest in the sector. If price of spectrum is high then “you will reach a situation where you will not be able to provide low tariffs”.

Broadband and Telecom should be looked upon as a vehicle of empowerment rather than a sector from which we can squeeze money to achieve our fiscal growth,he added.

On the auction of spectrum,Sibal said,”If you look at the Telecom sector across the world,not every country has gone through an auction process… At some point in time,we may not go through the auction process while at others we may. It all depends on where the country is placed.”

Sibal also talked about a differential pricing policy regime where the operators may be asked to charge operators in the urban areas and offer services in the remote rural areas for free.

Sibal also said that there should be focus on the hardware and Telecom equipment sector.