2. ABOUT SPECTRUM
Range of Electromagnetic Radio Waves- Communication Carrier
Natural Resource- limited availability
can not use same spectrum for multiple purpose at one particular area
Government decides which bands can be used for which service
License required to operate- fee has to be paid
3. WHAT IS 2G SPECTRUM SCAM?
The wavelength between 800-1900MHz is
called 2G spectrum
In 2008 122 new telecom licenses issued to
several domestic companies with less
experience in telecom sector at a price set in
2001.
The shortfall is 1.76 lakh crore rupees.
The main accused person was A. Raja-
Communications and IT Minister
4. ALLOCATION OF SPECTRUM
Auction or First Come-First Served Basis
The Government decided- 1st come, 1st served.
Communications and IT Minister- A. Raja
apply for licenses before 1st October 2007 and pay license fees
Date for submitting application changed from 1st October to 5th September
License issue date- 10th January 2008- less time given to telecom companies to issues
documents
place a cap of 121 licenses out of 575 applications
6. WHO ALL BENEFITED FROM THIS SCAM?
2G spectrum was allocated beyond contracted quantity to 9 firms including Bharti, Vodafone,
Idea, BSNL, Reliance, Aircel
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) circumvented the rules to help Swan Telecom
The charges in the CAG report are that Swan should not have been considered for a license
because Reliance Communications held 10.7% stake in Swan
Unitech Wireless- no experience in the telecommunication sector.
After Unitech got the license for Rs. 1,661 crore, it sold 60 per cent stake to Telenor Asia for a
whopping Rs. 6,200 crore
9. MEDIA PERSONS ACCUSED
Nira Radia- Nira Radia tapes controversy
Barkha Dutt, an NDTV journalist
Vir Sanghvi- Hindustan Times editor
Rajdeep Sardesai- a CNN IBN senior editor
10. What happened next?
CPI(M) reiterated its demand for cancellation of the licenses of those private Telco's who got
the spectrum through the first come first served formula and recover the losses.
was the first to point out to this biggest scam in the country in 2008 itself
Its continuous exposal and also of the other opposition parties had compelled the
Government to dismiss Communications Minister A. Raja and appointment of JPC (Joint
Parliamentary Commitee) to inquire in the matter
On 2 February 2012 the Supreme Court ruled on petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy and
the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL)- cancelling all 122 spectrum licenses
11. INITIATIVES TO AVOID SCAMS (REMEDIES)
Setting up of preventive mechanism
Ministers, civil servants relation to be reformed
Protection of civil servants.
Stopping the culture of sponsoring politicians by businessmen
Saving the media from rotting through checks and balances
People should be aware of consequences of weak governments and should enable strong
governments.