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Anil Ambani slams GSM operators

Anil Ambani

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing telecom tangle, Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani has accused GSM operators of “hoarding” surplus spectrum and sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to ensure that service providers such as Vodafone and Bharti Airtel surrendered the excess airwaves.

Attacking GSM players, who are demanding auctioning of spectrum and have moved telecom tribunal TDSAT on new spectrum norms, Mr. Ambani said even sector regulator TRAI, fair trade practices watchdog MRTPC as also TDSAT had issued notices to Bharti and Vodafone for “anti-consumer practices.”

It is essential that the future of telecom industry was “not undermined by a few vested interests for their narrow personal interests,” Mr. Ambani said in a letter to Dr. Singh days before Diwali.

The letter comes after GSM lobby Cellular Operators Association of India challenged the new policy of allowing dual technology for mobile telephony and new spectrum allocation norms as recommended by the Telecom Engineering Centre. Reliance Communications is a key CDMA player and was the first to apply for GSM spectrum under the new norms.

Mr. Ambani asked the government to “see through the motivated agenda of a few existing GSM operators and not succumb to their pressure tactics.” He said there should be “a transparent framework for surrender of spectrum in a time-bound manner, wherever not utilised, as per guidelines.” — PTI

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