Uninor to bid for 2G spectrum

New operator Uninor, a joint venture between Telenor of Norway and Unitech, today said the company will participate in 2G spectrum auction but did not rule out exit option from the Indian market.

“In principle we will go for auction but I am not saying that whether we will win everything ... So, the option of exit cannot be ruled out,” Uninor Managing Director and Telenor’s Asia head Sigve Brekke told reporters here.

He also said that company would finalise its strategy after looking at the base price and the reserve price for the spectrum.

The licence of Uninor, along with other new operators, has been cancelled after the Supreme Court’s judgement last week on the basis that all 122 2G licences were issued illegally in January 2008 by former telecom minister A. Raja.

The apex court has asked the government to seek fresh recommendations from regulator TRAI to distribute licences and spectrum through auction and complete the process within four months.

Asked whether the company would bid for all the circles, he said “at this time it is difficult to say whether we will bid or not or for how many circles ... we have to see the base price first.”

He, however, asserted that the auction should be among the new operators like it was in 2008 and incumbent players, who already have spectrum, should not be allowed to participate.

At one point of time he also indicated that the company was here for long time and not closing down operations.

Meanwhile, TRAI has initiated the process to give recommendations on the auction process and has sought views from the industry and other stakeholders.

Uninor had earlier ruled out laying off employees in the wake of Supreme Court’s cancellation of 122 2G licences that has hit the company badly.

“Uninor services are continuing. This means we will continue to serve our 36 million customers, work with our 22,000 partners and keep building our presence in the market. It is the Uninor team that has made the company by far the most successful new operator and it is this team that will continue to do so in the months to come,” a company spokesperson said.

The Uninor MD, however, alleged that competitors are following “unethical” trade practices to poach their subscribers and that the company has filed a complaint with the GSM lobby COAI against this.

“We will come out with advertisement for our customers assuring that we are very much here,” Mr. Sigve said.

Uninor is a joint venture between real estate major Unitech and Telenor of Norway. Telenor now holds 67.25 per cent ownership share in the company.

Uninor claims to have invested over Rs. 14,000 crore in Indian operations and has a subscriber base of nearly 40 million as of now.

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Report hints at ‘collusive behaviour' in Antrix-Devas deal

In their stinging indictments, two government-appointed committees, set up to scrutinise the Antrix-Devas agreement, have highlighted serious procedural lapses on the part of, and policy violations by, senior scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), all of which benefited a private company.

The deal reflects “not only serious administrative and procedural lapses but also a suggestion of collusive behaviour on the part of certain individuals,” says the report of the high-level team, headed by the former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Pratyush Sinha, submitted to the government in September last. The second team, a high-power review committee comprising B.K. Chaturvedi and Roddam Narasimha, submitted its report in March last.

Under the January 2005 agreement between the Antrix Corporation, marketing wing of ISRO, and the Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia Private Limited, Devas was allowed unrestricted use of 70 MHz of the scarce S-band spectrum from two exclusive satellites.

The former ISRO Chairman, Madhavan Nair, the former Scientific Secretary at ISRO, K Baskaranarayana, and the former managing director of Antrix Corporation, K.R. Sridharamurthi, were “mainly responsible for leading the Department of Space and Antrix into this arrangement,” says the Pratyush Sinha report.

K.N. Shankara, former director of the ISRO satellite centre, who headed the committee to examine the proposal, is “guilty of not considering all the implications of the agreement he was recommending.”

The Pratyush Sinha report lists another four bureaucrats “found responsible for the acts of omission:” the former Member (Finance), Space Commission, S.S. Meenakshisundaram; and three former Additional Secretaries of the Department of Space, Veena S. Rao, G. Balachandhran and R.G. Nadadur.

The reports cite examples of how information was concealed, facts were obfuscated, and cost calculations even “dissimulated.”

For example, the Cabinet and the Space Commission were kept in the dark about the deal, and the approval process was “riddled with incomplete and inaccurate information,” says the Pratyush Sinha report.

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No strictures against Manmohan: Pawar

Defending the Centre, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Supreme Court had not indicted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or the government in the 2G spectrum scam case in its Thursday order cancelling 122 licences.

Responding to questions at a press conference here, Mr. Pawar said he had only just got a copy of the judgment and a cursory glance through the pages showed that Dr. Singh had written to the then Telecom Minister A. Raja on November 2, 2007, urging fairness and transparency in the 2G spectrum allocation.

The judges noted that the former Minister did not bother to accept the Prime Minister's suggestion on allocation. This clearly indicated that there were no strictures on the Prime Minister, and the judges felt he had done his job, Mr. Pawar said. “I don't think the blame falls on the PM,” Mr. Pawar said, in response to questions on collective responsibility and if Dr. Singh was responsible for the scam. The allocation was not a Cabinet decision but that of an individual Ministry, he said, adding that the government would require some time to apply its mind after the order.

Following the court order, Mr. Pawar felt, the allotment system in the agro sector needed to be scrapped and a committee could be appointed for major decisions. The verdict also indicated that the government had to take a cautious approach before taking any decisions which, on the flipside, might delay the process, he said.

Both internationally and nationally, within the investor community, the order would be debated and the possibility of repercussions on investments could not be ruled out, Mr. Pawar said.

The Minister admitted that a wrong decision indeed brought disrepute to the government. Asked about the impact of the latest judgment on the ongoing Assembly elections, he said the situation appeared to be in favour of the Congress in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. If the Samajwadi Party came on top, a government could be formed with the Congress and Ajit Singh's party (Rashtriya Lok Dal), he said. In Manipur and Goa, where the Nationalist Congress Party was contesting, there would be no impact. He said the UPA constituents would increase its numbers in these elections.

However, he cautioned that the public could not be predicted so easily. “They are smarter than us.”

‘Substantiate charges'

Regarding the allegations of corruption against Ministers in the NCP, Mr. Pawar sought proof to back up the claims. Assailing the press for injudicious reportage, Mr. Pawar said that while he was all for democratic freedom, there must be some decorum and limit. Regarding allegations against the former Union Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, Mr. Pawar said he had read the article in a Canadian daily, which had mentioned that there was no evidence to support the allegations. In addition, Mr. Patel had also written to the Prime Minister on the issue, and the deal, which was mentioned in the paper, did not come through in any case.

Mr. Pawar said he had contested 14 elections and people had supported him but he would not contest the 2014 general elections. That did not mean he was moving out of public life. He was giving advance notice of his intentions to prepare the ground for another competent contestant. To a question whether he was keen on the Rajya Sabha, he said the party would decide.

Addressing the press earlier, Mr. Pawar appealed to his party members to desist from mudslinging. In the background of a war of words between State Industries Minister Narayan Rane and the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Mr. Sharad Pawar called on the NCP to work unitedly to ensure victory in the elections to 10 municipal corporations, 27 nagar parishads and over 300 panchayat samitis in the State. After all the Congress and NCP, even if they were contesting against each other in some places, were still running the government.

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