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RCom favoured for dual-tech licence: Tatas New Delhi, February 14 Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) reacted sharply to the yesterday’s statement of Syed Safawi, CEO, wireless business, Reliance Communications (RCom), part of the Anil Ambani group. Denying having received any undue benefit from allocation of licence or Spectrum, the RCom statement had said, “The grant of dual-technology approval to RCom, against its application that had been pending from February 2006 for more than 18 months, was on identical terms and payment of identical fees as for three other companies — Ratan Tata group’s Tata Teleservices, Himachal Futuristic Communications and Shyam Telecom (now known as Sistema) - and there is nothing special or untoward in the same.” On the other hand, Tata Teleservices said it was the only operator, amongst those named above, to apply for the dual-technology licence after the October 19, 2007, announcement by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). “It is hence unfair and incorrect to compare the TTSL with other applicants, who had applied before the policy was announced. This has also been validated in the CAG report,” it said. The TTSL charged that it was even more intriguing that Reliance Communication was allotted Spectrum in all the circles immediately, in January 2008, whereas it got DoT approval after 83 days, and that the TTSL, even after three years, is still awaiting Spectrum allocation in the crucial Delhi Circle and in 39 commercially crucial districts in nine telecom circles.Responding to RCom statement’s reference as “Ratan Tata group’s Tata Teleservices Limited, the TTSL statement said Tata Teleservices Limited and the Tata Group were not family-owned or family-run concerns, or owned by Ratan Tata. “Hence, to refer to them as ‘Shri Ratan Tata group’s Tata Teleservices Limited’ is not appropriate”. RCom, while strongly stating that it had not violated any norms, had launched a huge attack on old GSM operators without naming them, which would mean Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea. It charged that the old 2G operators, by active and fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment of material facts from the government, caused the national exchequer staggering losses of over Rs 1 lakh crore during 2001 to 2010. “Based on this fraudulently obtained, unprecedented and unparalleled benefit in the history of the telecom sector globally, these old 2G operators immediately sold stakes in their companies to foreigners, and encashed thousands of crores of rupees as illegal profits, in identical manner as has been adversely commented upon in the CAG’s report of 2010, in relation to stake sales for 2G licences issued in 2008,” RCom had alleged. It said, “It is unfortunate that a malicious campaign of disinformation, falsehoods and calumny is being spread by RCom’s telecom industry competitors and corporate rivals to put up a smokescreen and cover their own unprecedented irregularities over the past decade, and thereby protect their industry market shares built through manipulation of the policy regime, and favouritism in connivance with certain DoT officials of the relevant time”.
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