Reacting to the Supreme Court order today on the cancellation of 122 licenses issued in the 2G spectrum, telecom expert Mahesh Uppal said that the order will bring in more transparency in the allocation process.
Supreme Court of India. Reuters
“It is a good news for the incumbents, that is, the older players in the sector. They will have more spectrum and less competition now,” Uppal said.
The expert said it will be interesting to note if the players whose licenses got cancelled will bid for the spectrum again.
Uppal said that it is good that the apex court stood up for transparency and fair value and this will allow investors to have faith in the process.
The telecom expert denied that 2G is an outdated spectrum now.
“2G is still in great demand. It is valuable and scarce. It is required even to continue existing services,” he said.
However, Uppal doubts whether reauctioning the 2G spectrum, will bring the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore that the Comptroller and Auditor General said was the loss to the exchequer due to the alleged scam in 2008.
“The auction will help clarify about the market perception of the actual value of the spectrum. But I doubt if it will anywhere to the CAG’s figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore,” Uppal said.
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