New Delhi:
A day after the telecom regulator, TRAI, asked the government to cancel 69 2G licences given to five companies by Raja in 2008, the new Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has reportedly begun a major review.
Sources say Sibal has asked telecom officers to make a note on the TRAI recommendations and find out about the contracts.
In 1999, auctions took place and since Telecom companies failed to pay up so government allowed to move to revenue sharing basis.
The base price of the revenue sharing model was fixed at 1651 crores, based on how much a fourth operator need to pay to enter the market.
Teledensity increased from 6 per cent to 58 per cent.
On august 28, 2007 TRAI said the prices of 2001 should continue to maximise teledensity.
The real problem, says Sibal, was that Raja did not realise that spectrum was scarce and there were too many applicants from 232 to 532 in a week's time till October 1.