New Delhi:
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the 2G scam, is also investigating telecom policy, allocation and pricing of spectrum from years 1999 to 2004, during the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.
The JPC consists of different political parties. Members of the Congress and its allies are trying to prove that missteps were taken during NDA regime too and not just after the UPA came to power in 2004. So today, the focus shifted to whether the NDA allocated excess spectrum without consulting with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
A former chairman, MS Verma, told the panel today that the NDA did not seek his clearance before giving this excess spectrum to some companies in 2002. Mr Verma headed TRAI from March 2000 to March 2003.
JPC chairman PC Chacko, who is from the Congress, explained that upto 10 MHz of "excess spectrum, not additional spectrum" was allocated to some companies. While TRAI has powers to make suo motu recommendations to government, the regulator did not opt for the option then. Mr Chacko said in fact during Verma's three-year tenure, TRAI did not make any suo motu recommendations to the government on any issue.
In reply to a question, the JPC chairman said while TRAI recommendations are not binding on the government, "such matters are expected to be referred (to TRAI)... efficient
management of available spectrum comes under the power of TRAI".
The Department of Telecom (DoT) had yesterday said that the exchequer lost over Rs 43,500 crore due to the implementation of the migration policy during the NDA regime in 1999.
The DoT was asked to quantify the losses on account of the migration policy.
The BJP government had allowed operators to migrate from the fixed licence fee regime to the revenue-sharing model, which Mr Chacko said had "huge financial implications". He also said the finance ministry had objected to the scheme and suggested that "there should be a provision of auction of spectrum in areas where demand exceeds the supply. But that was not accepted by the DoT then."
The JPC has also called former attorney general Soli Sorabjee for questioning about alleged losses incurred due to changes in the telecom policy by the NDA government.
The JPC consists of different political parties. Members of the Congress and its allies are trying to prove that missteps were taken during NDA regime too and not just after the UPA came to power in 2004. So today, the focus shifted to whether the NDA allocated excess spectrum without consulting with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
A former chairman, MS Verma, told the panel today that the NDA did not seek his clearance before giving this excess spectrum to some companies in 2002. Mr Verma headed TRAI from March 2000 to March 2003.
JPC chairman PC Chacko, who is from the Congress, explained that upto 10 MHz of "excess spectrum, not additional spectrum" was allocated to some companies. While TRAI has powers to make suo motu recommendations to government, the regulator did not opt for the option then. Mr Chacko said in fact during Verma's three-year tenure, TRAI did not make any suo motu recommendations to the government on any issue.
In reply to a question, the JPC chairman said while TRAI recommendations are not binding on the government, "such matters are expected to be referred (to TRAI)... efficient
management of available spectrum comes under the power of TRAI".
The Department of Telecom (DoT) had yesterday said that the exchequer lost over Rs 43,500 crore due to the implementation of the migration policy during the NDA regime in 1999.
The DoT was asked to quantify the losses on account of the migration policy.
The BJP government had allowed operators to migrate from the fixed licence fee regime to the revenue-sharing model, which Mr Chacko said had "huge financial implications". He also said the finance ministry had objected to the scheme and suggested that "there should be a provision of auction of spectrum in areas where demand exceeds the supply. But that was not accepted by the DoT then."
The JPC has also called former attorney general Soli Sorabjee for questioning about alleged losses incurred due to changes in the telecom policy by the NDA government.
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