The decision of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) that the telecom operators who have spectrum in excess of 4.4 Mhz will have to pay a one-time fee for the remaining period of the 2o year licence is completely discriminatory and is nothing but a favour to the private companies. Since the spectrum was allotted to the major private companies in 1994 and their 20 year licence is to end by 2013, most of them have to pay at about Rs.2,ooo crore to 3500 crore only. It is only Bharti Airtel which will have to pay about Rs. 5000 crore since it has got as much as 10Mhz spectrum in almost all circles. These private companies have been enjoying the free excess spectrum for the last 19 years.
According to the reports BSNL has to pay a minimum of Rs. 6250 crore and MTNL Rs. 4640 crore. This is due to the reason that they have yet 10 years more to complete their 20 year period, since they were discriminated and were given the spectrum only in 2002, though they were the companies owned by the Government. Both of them together have to pay Rs, 10,890 crore for spectrum all over India, while Airtel need pay only Rs. 5,000 crore for the same. While excess spectrum was free for 19 years to the private companies and have to pay only for one year, BSNL & MTNL got excess spectrum free for only 10 years and have to pay for 10 years. This is completely injustice and an attack on the above two PSUs who have served the country for long years serving not only in the urban cities but in the lakhs of villages as part of the universal service obligation by the government incurring loss of lakhs of crores of rupees.
The Cabinet is going to take a decision on the recommendations of the EGoM on 16th October as reported in the media. There should be strong protest from the BSNL – MTNL management against this decision. It should be demanded that the excess spectrum with BSNL & MTNL should be free and that no charge should be levied as they are the incumbent and government companies as also that they have been discriminated in allocation of the spectrum for many years. At least no fee should be levied till the end of the first 20 years period.
The Forum of BSNL Unions has to immediately take up the issue with the government to ensure that justice is given to the PSUs, BSNL and MTNL. The present decision of the government is a bolt from the blue for both these PSUs which are already in loss due to the pro-private policies of the government. Serious agitational programmes will have to be resorted to against the anti BSNL-MTNL recommendations.
VAN Namboodiri's Blog 
I don’t understand why we have to tolerate the existence of these companies at all. They loot the public exchequer corrupt the system till it becomes little less than absolute despotism. They exploit and destroy the working class and wreck our infrastructure and keep us backward !
Why isn’t there a movement calling for the Nationalization of these private monopolies ? The best defense is attack. So now we must focus on attack. The government has proven they won’t listen to methods of ‘prayer and petition’ . Simply begging the government to come to its senses won’t bring it to its senses. the government *( purchased lackeys of the capitalist pigs ! ) are very well within their senses when they are selling off our public companies.
Spectrum allocation neednt even be sold if the telecom sector is fully nationalized. If Banks could be Nationalized for social purposes then why not the Big telecom companies ? Time has come when we must consider the same for the telecom sector ! These thousands of crores of rupees that the exchequer is losing for the profits of these private companies can only be compensated by their nationalization !