TRAI has never been consistent about how to price & allocate spectrum

Abstract

The 2G case illustrates how there is a different form of regulatory capture, this time the regulator being indebted to the master who appoints him. On January 10, 2008, the DoT sold licences with 2G spectrum at 2001 prices, realising about Rs 10,000 crore, ostensibly on a firstcome-first-served basis, but actually violating even this.

There was a feeling that the government lost revenue, fortified by CAG that assigned a dramatic Rs 1.76 lakh crore number to it. Swan got the licence for Rs 1,347 crore, and sold 45% to Etisalat for Rs 4,200 crore, valuing the firm at around Rs 10,000 crore. These raised suspicions about corruption.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-commentary/trai-has-never-been-consistent-about-how-to-price-allocate-spectrum/articleshow/12117780.cms