Humour on call

The issue of 2G spectrum auctions has been so fraught with legal implications and court cases that it has become a source of mild humour within the industry. Recently, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) held an open session with industry ahead of finalising its consultation paper on the issue. As is customary in such sessions, Trai put up a set of questions for various stakeholders to answer. When it came to CDMA operators’ lobby Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India to respond, its representative pointed out that some of the questions did not relate to 2G auctions and could, he added with mock severity, attract contempt of court. Replying in the same tone, Trai Chairman J S Sarma pointed out that the representative had answered those questions, so he, too, could attract the same penalty, drawing much laughter from the audience.