Govt likely to tweak spectrum clauses in the draft Telecom Bill 2022

In 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the policy of first-come-first-served through which spectrum was given to telcos by the government

The government is looking at key clauses in the draft Telecom Bill 2022 to see whether they conform with the Supreme Court order of 2012 mandating that telecom spectrum needs to be auctioned.

“We are looking at whether some parts of the bill pass scrutiny, based on the Supreme Court judgement and direction. If not, we have to discuss how to make changes. We are changing a bill which has been there for over 100 years so we need to be sure,” said a senior government official.

Currently, the Bill specifies that where spectrum management is concerned, the government may assign spectrum