The preliminary report provided by NTA shows that frequency has been assigned to telecom operators on the basis of decisions taken by the board of directors of NTA or on the basis of decisions taken by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC). [break]
Not just that, spectrum allocation committee is headed by MoIC minister. Also, such decisions were taken on mere recommendation by NTA chairman. This clearly suggests that former ministers and NTA chiefs are likely to come under the investigation into irregularities in frequency and licensing allocation.
PAC members said they will have to summon former ministers and NTA chiefs whose involvement in the irregularities is apparent.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the sub-committee has sought ownership structure and profile of six telecom companies operating in the country. NTA will have to submit the details of frequency assigned and spectrum being used. In order to find the exact spectrum being used, sub-committee has asked the final report of the consultant.
The sub-committee also asked the regulator to provide the number of mobile phone users and the total revenue collected in last three years.
PAC members questioned the authority for providing International Long Distance (ILD) gateway to rural telecom operator STM Telecom Sanchar, which has only 5,230 subscribers. The existing regulation requires telecom operators to have a minimum of 100,000 customers to get ILD gateway but in the case of STM Telecom, ILD gateway was awarded as per the condition while issuing operating license.
Lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari expressed his doubts that the licensing procedure was fair. "How can the standards for the same service be different for different operators," Adhikari questioned.
Coordinator of the sub-committee Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani said irregularities were committed and this is clear from the fact that no additional fees were charged for frequency and assigning additional services.
Rural telecom operators Smart Telecom and STM Telecom Sanchar were assigned frequency without charging any cost for their operation in rural sector. When these operators came into existence, Nepal Telecom (NT) was also not paying revenue for the use of frequency. However, NT was bound to pay for the frequency after PAC´s enquiry forcing it to make Rs 100 million as initial payment. This has brought these two rural telecom operators in trouble.
The sub-committee has asked NTA to furnish the reasons for not recommending any fee for the frequency to smart and STM Telecom.
Further, NTA will also have to answer for allocating the spectrum without conducting auction. The initial estimate of PAC is that NTA could have collected around Rs 80 billion if telecom operators were awarded license and frequency with common conditions and equal standards.
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