Trai wants to revoke 38 licenses

The Indian regulator, Trai, has called for the cancellation of 38 carrier licenses, including those held by Aircel, Etisalat and Telenor, for breaches of license conditions.

 

Junior Telecoms Minister Sachin Pilot told Indian upper house legislators that the regulator is also probing another 31 licenses in the wake of the country’s 2G spectrum scandal.

 

Former telecom minister A. Raja was forced to resign last month for directly allocating 157 2G licenses to operators instead of selling spectrum by auction, reportedly forfeiting as much as $39 billion in government revenue.

 

Licenses held by Aircel, Allianz Infratech, Etisalat, Loop Telecom, Sistema and Videocon will come under further scrutiny, Pilot said.

 

The Department of Telecom (DoT) last week sent notices to operators asking them to explain why their licenses should not be revoked. They will be given 60 days to respond.

 

The government has appointed a former Supreme Court judge to probe all spectrum allocations since 2G frequencies were handed out in 2001.