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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec. 8 The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT has asked the Department of Telecom to explain its various decisions relating to spectrum allocation to new players, merger and acquisition guidelines and auction for 3G services.

The Parliamentary Committee has sent 34 questions to DoT primarily focussing on the procedures followed in taking the decisions.

On the issue of spectrum allocation, the committee points out that the telecom regulator had suggested that the current policy has to be reviewed since it is not an efficient way of using a scarce resource like spectrum. DoT has been asked to explain whether it had followed the suggestion of the TRAI and if not, any reason has been given by the DoT for not adhering to the recommendations.

Pointing to the investigation being carried by the Central Vigilance Commission on the decision to allocate spectrum on a ‘first come-first served’ basis, the Committee said that while DoT has said the policy was based on the recommendations of the TRAI, the regulator has denied it.

“Please reconcile and cite specific recommendations of TRAI by which DoT was guided while allocating spectrum in the manner it has been done,” the Committee said. The Committee has also asked DoT whether excess spectrum had been given to existing cellular players and why the Government had not taken it back.

On the M&A guidelines, the Committee said while the TRAI has suggested that any proposal of merger and acquisition should not be entertained till the roll out obligation is met, the DoT deleted the word ‘acquisition’ from the final policy.

“What were the reasons/factors necessitating deletion of the word acquisition? And to what extent do the department justify the deletion in the context of present developments?” the Committee has asked DoT.

On the reserve price for 3G auctions, the Committee has asked the DoT to explain why it has fixed an amount that was decided two years ago. “As these recommendations were made more than 2 years back and in the meantime the mobile telephone business has seen a quantum jump in operations and profitability, does not that department think that the reserve price recommended by TRAI are not in consonance with the prevailing scenario?” the Parliamentary body posed.

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