TDSAT rightly indicts government for playing games with investors in the telecom sector.
A government’s word, you’d think, would count for something. Which is why, when India decided to auction 3G spectrum — ideal for high-speed mobile data connectivity — in 2010, leading telcos went for it. Sure, there wasn’t enough 3G spectrum to go around, but they still invested Rs 68,000 crore in bidding for 3G licences, and another Rs 15,000-20,000 crore each in rolling out networks. After all, 3G spectrum was part of the universal access service licence (UASL), under which they offered 2G telecom services, and that allowed what is called intra-circle roaming. In layman’s terms, that meant if a Vodafone couldn’t get 3G spectrum in Delhi, it would sign up with an Airtel and its customers would access 3G on the Airtel network. Also, before the bidding began, telcos had specifically asked if such intra-circle roaming would be allowed, and the government had said it would be, in writing. The problem was, once the bidding was done and the networks rolled out, the government cracked down on this intra-circle roaming, and fined telcos Rs 1,200 crore for it.
On Monday, the telecom appellate tribunal took apart the government’s arguments and called them “misleading” and “seriously flawed”. It reiterated that there was no such thing as a 2G or 3G licence, that the UASL allowed intra-circle roaming. And since the government had also given assurances in writing, it said the “government cannot be seen playing games in a matter of national importance”. Bad as the 3G case is, if this syndrome were restricted to just telecom, it would be one matter. But bureaucrats, no doubt egged on by politicians, are playing the same games in, for instance, the oil and gas sector — both incidentally areas where investors, especially global ones, have a lot of money to invest.
