Trai asks govt. to cancel licences of 5 new telcos

Nov 18, 2010 |

New Delhi

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In a swift action against new telecom players who were given licences in 2008, telecom regulator Trai on Thursday asked government to cancel 62 licences given to five companies including Etisalat (Swan), Uninor and Videocon.

The recommendation for this strong action was made to the Telecom Ministry today owing to the companies' non-compliance or irregular roll-out of network, as laid down in the contract.

The action comes amid the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming the Telecom Ministry for irregularity and impropriety in giving licences to new players in 2008, causing a loss of a whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.

As per the Trai report, cancellation has been sought for licence in 15 circles given to Etisalat, a company earlier known as Swan that CAG had dubbed as a front company of Anil Ambani group.

Besides, licences to Unitech group's Uninor in eight circles, 10 to Sistema-Shyam, a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India's Shyam group, 10 to Videocon, which Venugopal Dhoot-led group acquired from Mahendra Nahta's Datacom, and 19 of Loop.

The action also coincides with the Supreme Court hearing into the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices.

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