A panel set up to review the functioning of the Department of Telecom, following the 2G scam, has suggested that spectrum should be auctioned henceforth.
The committee also wants the DoT to put in place a standard operating procedure for granting licences and spectrum allocation.
The committee was set up by Ministry of Communication and IT after a one-man panel headed by Mr Justice Shivraj Patil pointed several short comings in the working of the department. It has suggested 15 points to remove the shortcomings along with guiding principles for drafting revised procedures to bring in more transparency.
“Simple, standardised, and transparent processes must be put in place to increase certainty and credibility of the licensing and spectrum allocation policies and procedures,” the committee has said in its draft recommendations.
Operating procedure
Mr Justice Patil had pointed out several instances of flawed procedures followed by the DoT since 2001. To address this, the committee has suggested a standard operating procedure (SoP). “ The SoP may include procedures to be followed by various branches of the DoT in dealing with grant of licences and allotment of spectrum,” it said, adding that adequate staff should be posted in the licensing wing to process applications in a time-bound manner.
The 2G scam has raised several questions in the way DoT functions. The Comptroller and Auditor General had alleged that DoT officials had arbitrarily changed procedures to suit a set of applicants. For example, the first-come-first-served policy was interpreted in such a way that the companies which submitted entry fee first got the priority instead of those who had actually applied first.
Qualcomm issue
More recently, the way DoT has handled Qualcomm's broadband licence has come under criticism. Although Qualcomm had won the broadband spectrum through an auction, the DoT has refused to give licence on technicalities. A checklist as suggested by the committee would have removed all ambiguity on what applicant companies are supposed to do to comply with DoT requirements.