Minister hits out at telecom cos

How should the public, parliament, auditor general and judiciary view the non-recovery of a whopping Rs 3,700 crore dues to the exchequer from the telecom operators after signing licence agreements, Jagmohan asked telecom operators.

Jagmohan also questioned the various operators – metro cellular operators, circle cellular operators and basic service operators using a common platform to demand awaiver in licence fees when each company signed a separate agreement for its own operations and all had different problems on the ground.

The minister also said that the government would do everything within its powers to empower the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He also said that the DoT’s corporatisation process was on track and these were issues which the government have assured private investors and “there is no need for anybody to doubt the government’s intentions”.

Jagmohan agreed with William Clossey, Head of International Law and Government Affairs AT&T, that those who had paid licence fees should not be put to disadvantage vis-a-vis those who had not.

When Vijay Kapoor, chairman of CII’s telecom committee asked when the government would remove the fog from the telecom sector as the one outside in Delhi, this morning, Jagmohan said the fog in the telecom sector would be cleared as soon as operators cleared their pending dues.