Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s open letter to Ratan Tata
Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s open letter to Ratan Tata
Dear Mr Tata
It is with considerable concern and some confusion that I have watched your recent television interviews and press statements following the 2G scam and the exposure of the infamous Nira Radia tapes.
… In your recent press interactions, you have made the point that the 2G scam needs to be investigated and have made several sub-points, including:
1. Out-of-turn allocation of spectrum,
2. Hoarding of spectrum by incumbent operators, and
3. Flip-flop of policy
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1. Out-of-Turn Allocation of Spectrum
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According to the CAG report, the potential loss to the exchequer on account of dual technology licenses at 3G rates is Rs. 37,154 crore. By virtue of dual technology, according to the CAG, your company has caused a loss to the exchequer to the tune of approximately Rs. 19074.8 crore.
But it is not just this. It is a fact that the Tata group is a beneficiary of out-of-turn spectrum.
In fact, one of the biggest of them all…
2. Hoarding of spectrum by incumbent operators
… If by hoarding, you mean having more spectrum than number of subscribers that can be serviced, then please note that Tata holds spectrum both for GSM and CDMA. Based on the spectrum that Tata has, its average efficiency is perhaps the lowest amongst the large operators….
3. Flip-flop of policy
… One of the most horrific distortions of policy was the infamous WLL scam in 2001 where telecom companies with fixed service licenses managed to muscle their way
into cellular with active support of policy makers of that time ….
Your company was the beneficiary of this ‘policy
flip-flop’ and you chose to accept the benefits of this flip-flop at that time despite this blatant violation and distortion.