Indian Regulator Recommends Scrapping 38 Permits

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended scrapping 38 airwave permits held by companies including Aircel Ltd., Dishnet Wireless Ltd., Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. and Unitech Wireless Pvt.

TRAI has also suggested “legal examination” of 31 licenses given to Aircel, Allianz Infratech (P) Ltd., Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom Ltd., Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. and Videocon Telecommunications Ltd., Sachin Pilot, junior telecommunications minister. The regulator’s “stance is that this is a scarce national resource and this is the harshest way of punishing these operators,” said Naveen Kulkarni, an analyst at MF Global Ltd. in Mumbai.