No free spectrum

At the behest of its unions, telecom PSU Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) decided not to pay for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, which amounts to about Rs 8,314 crore, after the completion of the auction for private players. Both BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) were required to match the bids of the private players.

While MTNL paid Rs 4,534 crore for BWA spectrum, BSNL decided not to pay. But soon after the last date (June 22) for payment was over, the company received a warning from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to pay the amount. BSNL did pay up but two days late, as the funds could not be arranged at the last minute. Now, the DoT has asked the company to fork out more than Rs 6 crore as penalty for late payment.