New Delhi: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has asked a committee, which is examining the conditions for allocation of spectrum to different entities, to submit its report soon. The Minister approved a note for expansion of the committee on April 1, 2013 and asked the panel to submit its report in one month from the date of its reconstitution, official sources said.
"The issue (spectrum assignment) impacts other ministries such as Department of Space and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The committee preferred to include members from these ministries before finalising report. Telecom Minister has approved proposal," sources said. This committee has been given task to examine conditions which need to be satisfied in order to adopt auction as preferred or the only mode of allocating spectrum. It is also studying conditions for which administrative allotment of spectrum should be treated as norm.
In addition, the panel has to look in to the condition for allocating spectrum to telecom companies during their licence period, sources said. The Minister has also asked the panel that "guidelines for migration to UL (Unified Licences) may also be finalised in the next one month", sources said. As per National Telecom Policy 2012, existing telecom companies will have option to migrate to Unified Licences, which is more liberal for business compared to their present licences.
The last spectrum allocation through administrative process for mobile telephony was done in 2009. It was put on hold after Supreme Court judgement of February 2, 2012
02:15 AM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: Nothing has changed on the ground four months after the Delhi gangrape triggered mass outrage and a series of promises by authorities. CNN-IBN's sister channel IBN7 has conducted a special investigation showing that fake licences based on fake addresses are still being issued to bus drivers. The Delhi gangrape of December 2012 was committed on board a private bus, which had a fake licence issued on a fake...
07:55 AM, Apr 08, 2013
The Reserve Bank of India today issued the much-awaited guidelines for new bank licences, allowing corporates and public sector entities with sound credentials and a minimum track record of 10 years to enter the banking business. ...
07:55 PM, Feb 22, 2013
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a decision to revoke the operating licences of several mobile phone companies after police said the sale of the licences was tainted by corruption. ...
02:40 AM, Feb 15, 2013
In a bid to stop cheating, Britain is set to ban immigrants from taking driving tests in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kashmiri, Tamil, Urdu and 12 other foreign languages under new plans to be unveiled next month. ...
10:41 PM, Jan 20, 2013
Supreme Court allowed on Monday mobile phone carriers, whose permits were due to be revoked this week as per an earlier court order, to continue services until it hears the case next on February 4, a lawyer on the case said. ...
12:17 AM, Jan 15, 2013
New Delhi: The government will begin on Monday the auction for telecom spectrum through which it is hoping to meet Rs 40,000 crore revenue target. The auction for the airwaves or frequencies freed from the cancellation of 122 telecom licenses, belonging to mainly eight companies, by the Supreme Court in February, will start at 0900 hours on Monday. "We have taken quick decision, firm decisions in the telecom sector. The...
12:49 AM, Nov 12, 2012
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the union government for not implementing its order directing auctioning of 122 cancelled 2G licences in both letter and spirit and going in for a truncated auction. "Prima facie we can say you are not complying with the court orders. You are playing with it. It is unfortunate," apex court bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice KS Radhakrishnan told Additional...
04:59 AM, Nov 10, 2012
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will begin hearing Telenor's plea seeking Rs 6400 crore as indemnity from Unitech on Tuesday for losses incurred after following the cancellation of their joint venture Uninor's 2G spectrum licenses. Unitech is expected to respond in the apex court on Tuesday. Telenor, which also sought a direction to freeze Unitech's assets, has alleged Unitech misrepresented facts before formation of their venture Uninor brand. Uninor's...
10:31 AM, Oct 09, 2012
New Delhi: An Empowered Group of Ministers on Monday decided to refund licence fee of companies whose telecom licences stand cancelled but have no criminal charge against them. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, also decided to recommend to the Cabinet a one-time fee on existing telecom operators for spectrum they hold beyond 4.4 MHz. The Supreme Court in February had cancelled 122 licences granted during former Telecom...
10:42 PM, Oct 08, 2012
The Russian Ambassador to India has warned that if Sistema, which has a joint venture with Shyam TeleServices, is not allowed to do business in India, then Indian investments in Russia may be hit. ...
10:21 AM, Jul 21, 2012
Kottayam: Public sector bank employees will go on a two-day nation-wide strike from July 25 to protest against government's moves to grant banking licences to private business houses and closing down of rural branches. A letter containing the demands had been given to the authorities including Indian Banks Association on March 26, but no decision was taken, United Forum of Bank Unions convenor AC Joseph told media today. He said...
02:46 PM, Jul 17, 2012
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday cited US President Barack Obama's recent criticism of the investment climate in India to question the Supreme Court's 2G spectrum judgement cancelling 122 telecom licences. The Attorney General told the apex court, "Even US President Barack Obama says it is not safe to invest in India. India will become a laughing stock internationally (in light of the SC's 2G judgement)." The argument came in...
02:28 PM, Jul 17, 2012
Shanghai: Despite uncertainties in the telecom sector, Chinese equipment maker Huawei will invest $2 billion over the next four years in India as it looks to aggressively market consumer devices and set up global R&D centre in the country. The company, which clocked $1.5 billion in revenues from India in 2011-12, is also betting big on the rollout of 4G LTE services in India and is targeting more than 50...
06:33 PM, Jun 25, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: Frustrated by a lack of opportunities in India, Germany's Fraport, the world's No 2 airport operator, is shutting its development office in the country, the latest in a growing list of companies exiting Asia's third-largest economy. Regulatory uncertainty and policy gridlock have battered foreign corporate sentiment towards India, adding to a dramatic slowdown in economic growth and exacerbating a widening current account deficit that has knocked the rupee...
09:27 PM, Jun 08, 2012
New Delhi: Norway has issued a warning to India saying there could be political implications if telecom company Telenor is forced to move out because of the Supreme Court's scrapping of 2G licences and TRAI's recommendations on a fresh auction. Trond Giske, Norway Trade Minister, said, "This situation of license withdrawal have created obstacles in our future. It has even further political implications. I think that it will influence India."...
08:06 AM, May 13, 2012
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the government to withdraw its petition seeking review of the 2G judgement after rapping it for circulating a letter on its intention to various parties linked to the matter. The apex court granted withdrawal of the review petition on the "oral request" made by Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising. She made the request on the advise of a bench comprising justices GS...
03:48 PM, May 10, 2012
New Delhi: An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) will meet on Tuesday next week to discuss telecom regulator TRAI's recommendations on unified licences and auction of spectrum, an official said on Friday. The Telecom Commission, the decision making body of the Telecom Department, will also meet on Monday next week to discuss the TRAI recommendations, the Telecom Ministry official told. "Telecom Commission will discuss TRAI's recommendation, while it will be...
05:32 AM, Apr 28, 2012
Hyderabad: Uninor on Saturday said it is optimistic that a solution to the 2G spectrum issues will be found even as the company has initiated search for a new Indian partner for setting up a new entity. "We see there will be a clarity on 2G spectrum auction process before June 2 and are hopeful that a solution will be found before June 2 (when its licences would terminate). At...
02:33 AM, Apr 22, 2012
New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil has signed the reference on 2G seeking clarity on the Supreme Court's verdict. This comes after the Supreme Court refused to review its decision on cancellation of the 2G licenses. The government wants to know if the 2G licences allotted during the NDA regime will be scrapped too. The government had on Tuesday agreed to issue a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court on the...
01:33 PM, Apr 12, 2012
