Chandramohan, appearing for a father-son duo, Dr Krishna Moorthi and S K Sridhar — who were facing CBI inquiry in an MBBS marksheet forgery scam — had met Regupathy at his chambers and handed over his mobile phone saying Raja was on the line and wanted to speak to him regarding the case.I am reminded of the joke
If I say 'Chandrika Kumaratunga who studied in the same school as my mother, is on the line, talk to her on my mobile and Eelam will born the next moment', should people suspect my mother or Chandrika or the school where they studied? What sort of a comedy is this? Though the case is not related to spectrum, the ex-minister is and media cannot stop dancing midway. They have to continue that act.
I was relieved to see some good articles on spectrum in the media, at last. Express Computer was the first and to quote,
It's a case of better late than never. Half a decade after 3G made its mark in developed countries (a decade in some), India has finally decided to embrace this technology. Considering that the pay off in 3G's case can take anywhere from six to ten years, have Indian telcos bitten off more than they can chew?If that is about the basic aspects of 2G/3G, the editorial in Economic Times nailed it.
A lot of the delay in 3G roll outs is attributed to the government shuffling its feet over granting 3G licenses. The auctions raked in spectrum worth Rs. 67,710 crore, a figure that was almost a hundred percent more than the government's expectations. Also, when licenses were given out, only three of the nine telecom operators (excluding the state-run BSNL and MTNL), namely Reliance Communications, Vodafone and Bharti, won the Mumbai and Delhi circles, which are the most expensive. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Reliance Communications agreed to pay Rs. 3,317 crore ($737 million) and Rs. 3,247 crore ($722 million) each for the most sought after Delhi and Mumbai markets.
Amidst the euphoria, industry observers are worried about the 'curse' of successful bidders paying through their nose for the licenses in addition to capital and operational expenses, which could eat into the operators’ profit margins. This, in turn, could dampen future investments. As it is, intense price competition is steadily eating into mobile operators' earnings and ARPUs have dropped below Rs. 200 per month per customer.
The implementation of 3G services would require significant investments (firstly on spectrum), in establishing and then maintaining network infrastructure.
According to research firm ICRA, this is expected to lead to greater reliance on debt and pressure on return indicators in the short term. The numbers are staggering. Telcos paid $1.6 to 2.6 billion for their 3G licenses and, in each case, they will be looking at infrastructure costs of $500 to 700 million, according to analysts. “These are huge outlays; equivalent to 40% to 50% of a year’s revenues,” averred Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst, Juniper Research. It’s not dissimilar to the Western European experience where operators paid exorbitant sums for 3G licenses in 2000. “Those operators are still trying to recoup the costs of their investments, ten years on,” he added.
Let us look at a similar situation in Britain. When Britain allotted 2G licences, they went through a bureaucrat’s version of an auction — prequalifying bidders through criteria like knowing business plans, their capital base — that Prof Paul Klemperer of Oxford derisively calls ‘beauty contests’ . They could raise only 44,000 pound through this route. Subsequently, Klemperer conducted the 3G auctions, where he raised a whopping 2.2 billion pound for the government and the consequent near-bankruptcy for the bidding firms. But no one in UK used this benefit in hindsight and criticised the 2G auctions.மீனுக்கும் ஜாமீனுக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாதது போல, 2Gக்கும் 3Gக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாத கககபோ !@#$% இந்தியாவிலும் தமிழகத்திலும் இருப்பது விந்தையல்ல :x
If Karunanidhi is 'criticized' by media for taking up the Dalit card, the behavior of the media does not seem to indicate otherwise. If the media can be that clueless, rather cast(e) to call Jayalalithaa as one of all the PMs in waiting where her occupation is given as 'Agriculturist', nothing more needs to be said. There is an orchestrated move in the media to help ADMK or prevent DMK 'somehow' in the elections due 2011. If DMK could lose in 2001 for no reason, it could repeat in 2011. I for one do not see why DMK should lose, rather more importantly why ADMK should win! None of the candidates that I voted till date has won and so I dont matter, rather, I cant help ;)
