The Telecom Maaya Bazar !!!!

The Telecom Maaya Bazar !!!!

 

5G spectrum was sold through auctioning in July, 2022. Before auctioning, the government told that, 72GHz spectrum would be auctioned. The base price of this 72GHz spectrum was fixed at Rs.4.3 lakh crore. The 5G spectrum auctioning is over now. As against the base price of Rs.4.3 lakh crore, the government was able to get only Rs.1.5 lakh crore. Now, former Telecom Minister, Shri A. Raja, has accused of misdeeds in the auctioning. The present Telecom Minister, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, has refuted this and has told that, only a portion of the 5G spectrum was sold out in the auctioning and that, the unsold spectrum is remaining with the government. Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw may be technically correct. But the question is, why the entire 72GHz spectrum was not sold out fully?  Why the government was able to get only one third of the base price of Rs.4.3 lakh crore? Whether the government can give any reply? Certainly not. Earlier, there were many telecom companies, including Idea, Reliance Communications, Aircel, Tata Teleservices, Telenor India, etc. However, most of them were crushed to death by the financial muscle of Reliance Jio. Those companies are either closed down or got merged. Today, only 3 private telecom companies are there, out of which Vodafone Idea is in the death-bed. Only Jio and Airtel are dominating the telecom sector. As in the past, if more telecom companies are there in the field, certainly the entire spectrum would have been sold out and the government would have got more money than the base price of Rs.4.3 lakh crore. The present situation, wherein the entire 72GHz spectrum was not sold out and that the government was able to get only one third of the base price, is the direct result of the pro-Reliance Jio steps taken by the Modi government. The government and the TRAI took many measures to help Reliance Jio. Remember how Shri J.S. Deepak, the then Telecom Secretary, was kicked out by Modi government for venturing to raise his voice against the violations of Reliance Jio?

[Date : 05 - Aug - 2022]