Says no evidence yet to incriminate Maran for coercion in Aircel-Maxis deal.
With hopes of raising funds through an initial public offer (IPO) or selling a stake to a strategic investor fading due to stiff opposition from the unions, the government is working on a proposal for a private placement of shares for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), India's fifth-largest telecom company,
The company has already made payments for the spectrum according to rules.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which is aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and exports, is expected to increase the country's production by $520 billion in the next five years. Addressing a webinar on PLI scheme, organised by Department of Industry and International Trade (DPIIT) and NITI Aayog, through video conference, Modi said the government is continuously carrying out reforms to boost domestic manufacturing. In this year's Budget, about Rs 2 lakh crore was earmarked for the PLI scheme for the next five years and "there is an expectation that the scheme would result in increasing the production by about $520 billion in the next five years", he said. He added that there is also an expectation that the current workforce in the sectors, which will avail the benefits of the PLI scheme, will be doubled and job creation will also increase.
'At least three top bureaucrats have been declared guilty in recent years in connection with scams where they had no pecuniary benefit.' 'But in the telecom case, a money trail is declared irrelevant because no scam has been proved in the first place.' 'Fair enough; so we must punish illegality without criminality, but ignore possible criminality as suggestive of illegality,' points out T N Ninan.
There are different prices for spectrum up to contracted limit of 6.2 Mhz and for additional airwaves.
Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile operator, has already joined the global Seamless Alliance to provide in-flight connectivity.
The department of telecom member (finance) Vijayalakshmi K Gupta said the department would, on December 8, issue the final blueprint of the auction with regard to number of 3G slots and as of now the information memorandum is the document for reference. But the absence of foreign players at the pre-bid conference, which set in motion the auction process, was conspicuous.
A Group of Ministers will consider a proposal to let BSNL and MTNL venture into cable TV and broadcasting services to help infuse life into the loss making companies.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revision in guidelines for providing direct to home (DTH) services in the country under which licenses would be issued for 20 years, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said. The Union Cabinet has also approved 100 per cent FDI in the DTH broadcasting services sector, Javadekar said, adding that while the commerce ministry had spoken of 100 per cent FDI in the DTH sector, the guidelines of the information and broadcasting ministry needed to be changed.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has sent a letter to the Pilibhit District Election Officer seeking necessary action against Bharatiya Janata Party MP.
A high-level meeting will be convened soon to decide on probing the India operations of Chinese Telecom companies -- 'Huawei' and 'ZTE' -- against the backdrop of the US calling the two firms a threat to American national security.
He denies that he plotted with former Telecom Minister A Raja and others to pocket 2G spectrum licence.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday questioned actress-environmentalist Juhi Chawla for directly filing a suit against the setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country without giving any representation to the government on her concerns related to the technology.
The telecom tribunal TDSAT on Wednesday asked new operators S Tel and Videocon Teleservices to pay 60 per cent of the penalty within two weeks, imposed on them by the Department of Telecom for failing to meet their roll-out obligations.
The fine is based on the loss estimated by internal committees of DoT to the national exchequer due to violation of licence norms by Vodafone.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on the recent showdown between telecom operator Airtel and the Research and Analysis Wing over tapping of certain phones
India's largest-ever spectrum auction kicked off on Saturday with major telecom operators placing bids worth Rs 53,531 crore across bands, even as the premium 700 Mhz and 900 Mhz frequencies did not find any buyer.
To make the scheme attractive, the government has announced a rate structure wherein the operators may take the optical fibre on lease and provide broadband connectivity to customers.
"I understand that DoT (Department of Telecom) should be able to take a decision in about 15-days. We (TRAI) should be able to announce a date soon...I don't think it will take long," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma told reporters.
People familiar with the proceedings said independent cybersecurity experts from a private consulting firm, technology lawyers, government officials and WhatsApp representatives were asked questions about the Pegasus spyware and the larger issues surrounding surveillance, hacking and remedial measures.
They will take call on the number of telecom circles in which spectrum to be auctioned.
The government has collected over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in penalties from new telecom service providers that failed to roll-out their networks within the stipulated timeframe after getting licences and spectrum.
The government has 97 blocks of 1.25 MHz spectrum each, which DoT can put on the block in the third round.
Government's resolution on the contentious issue of spectrum usage fee seems to have found favour with telecom operators with none of them withdrawing their application from airways auction on the last day on Monday.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has decided to do a special audit of Reliance Communications' (RCom) telecom licence companies.
'He will conduct aerial surveys and take part in review meetings, where aspects of relief and rehabilitation will be discussed,' the PMO said in a tweet on Thursday night. Cyclone Amphan has left 72 people dead and thousands homeless in West Bengal, battering several parts of the state and washing away bridges and swamping low-lying areas.
The telecom tribunal TDSAT on Wednesday directed Uninor to pay Rs 6 crore to the government as penalty for delay in rolling out services in two circles, as per its license conditions.
Telecom tribunal TDSAT on Friday directed Uninor to pay 60 per cent of the penalty, demanded by the Department of Telecom (DoT), for failing to roll-out services within the stipulated period.
Telecom Commission has recommended that existing mobile operators vacate airwaves in the 900 MHz band at the time of renewal of licences in 2014 -- a move that GSM players say would cost them over Rs 66,000 crore (Rs 660 billion) in replacing infrastructure.
Saudi Aramco chairman and head of the Kingdom's cash-rich wealth fund PIF Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan will join the board of Reliance Industries Ltd as an independent director in a precursor to a $15 billion deal. Reliance chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who had two years back disclosed the talks to sell a 20 per cent stake in the company's oil-to-chemical unit to Saudi Aramco, announced the appointment of Al-Rumayyan at the company's annual meeting of shareholders. Harvard educated Al-Rumayyan, 51, will replace Yogendra P Trivedi, 92, who has expressed a desire to retire, Ambani said. On the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the O2C business, he said the deal is likely to conclude this year.
Shares of Bharti Airtel on Wednesday fell 6 per cent amid reports that the government is learnt to have approved levying of Rs 650-crore penalty on the company for violating roaming norms in 13 service areas between 2003 and 2005.
The government on Tuesday invited financial bids from all the nine applicants, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and RCom, who had applied for participating in 3G spectrum auction.
The single emergency number '112' will be operational throughout India from January 1 to help people reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department.
Spectrum auction ends, brings Rs 1.09 tln to govt kitty.
A presentation by the CBI to a Joint Parliamentary Committee last week said the decision led to a loss of Rs 508 crore to the exchequer.
The DoT also clarified that all queries have been duly and promptly replied in time. The Director General Audit, Post and Telegraph in continuation of their earlier queries has issued Draft Report on July 19 to DoT for comments.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there were 31 complaints of call drops against the company in 2015
The prime minister's directive comes in the wake of telecom minister A Raja seeking his intervention for early resolution of BSNL's tender controversy.
