Giving a stronger indication of its distrust of the government's motives, the COAI went ahead and filed for additional documents through the Right to Information (
RTI) Act on Friday. This is its second filing under
RTI within a week.
The move comes amidst tough negotiations designed to move towards a compromise between COAI and the DoT, embroiled in bitter litigation over the controversial crossover spectrum policy of October 19.
GSM players have been crying foul over the Technical Engineering Centres (TEC) new subscriber-linked criteria of October 31, which the DoT was quick to accept and wants to expose more documents related to the TEC decision. Confirming this move, TV Ramachandran of COAI said, "We have widened the scope of the
RTI to cover all aspects of the governments decision."
The government has been putting a squeeze on GSM players by placing valuable spectrum further and further out of their reach. Industry analysts say COAI's reverse pressure tactic could work as an effective negotiation tool.
Meanwhile, the DoT continues to grapple with the demands of 46 firms clamoring for LoIs for their 575 licence/spectrum applications. This decision is also imminent over this week.
NEW DELHI, 5 Nov 2007, Shalini Singh,
TNN