Investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigations have revealed a series of events between November 21, 2001 and July 14, 2002 which point to the alleged conspiracy that benefited mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Hutchison Max and Sterling Cellular (both now known as Vodafone India).
The story starts in early 2001 when the Cellular Operators’ Association of India sent a letter to the Department of Telecom requesting additional spectrum.
Mobile companies were initially given up to 6.2 MHz spectrum along with the licence. This request was sent to a technical committee.
The committee said that 6.2 MHz was sufficient to accommodate 9 lakh subscribers. It also proposed to levy incremental charges for additional spectrum. But on January 31, 2002, J.R. Gupta, the then Deputy Director-General, DoT, put up a note “falsely mentioning” that a consensus had emerged that additional spectrum may be given when operators reach 4 lakh subscribers and an additional levy of only one per cent of their annual revenues may be charged as spectrum charge.
Shyamal Ghosh, the then DoT Secretary, “dishonestly” agreed to this and recommended allocation up to 10 MHz without seeking the approval of the full Telecom Commission.
As part of “preconceived design” the then telecom minister late Pramod Mahajan gave the final approval on January 31, 2002, itself.
CBI has noted only Bharti Cellular had reached the subscriber base of 4 lakh as on December 31, 2001 and of 5 lakh on January 31, 2002, that is on the day the said decision was taken.
A testing report filed by an expert panel a day later on February 1, 2002 showed that Bharti Airtel could have continued to operate with 6.2 MHz for another 30 months by making small technical adjustments.
CBI charge sheet states that Shyam Ghosh deliberately did not wait for this testing report and hence pushed the policy one day ahead. According to the CBI, while Bharti Airtel was the primary beneficiary, other players including Sterling Cellular and Hutchison Max also gained from the policy.
thomas.thomas@thehindu.co.in