TRAI recommends cancellation of 62 licences

New Delhi : Sixty-two licences given to five companies, including Uninor and Videocon, were cancelled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indian (TRAI) on Thursday.

The telecom regulatory body asked the Telecom ministry to cancel the 62 licences given to new telecom players in 2008.

The TRAI order was based on the companies? non-compliance or irregular roll-out of network, as laid down in the contract.

Cancellation has been recommended for licence in 15 circles given to Etisalat, a company earlier known as Swan that CAG had dubbed as a front company of Anil Ambani group.

Licences to Unitech group’s Uninor in eight circles, 10 to Sistema-Shyam, a joint venture between Russia’s Sistema and India’s Shyam group, 10 to Videocon, which Venugopal Dhoot-led group acquired from Mahendra Nahta’s Datacom, and 19 of Loop have also been asked to be cancelled.

The move comes at a time when the government has been rocked by the 2G Spectrum scam, exposed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India report, that has cost A Raja his position as the Union Telecom minister.

The Supreme Court is also hearing a case into the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices.