Amidst the controversial sale of stake by two new telecom operators, Swan and Unitech at a huge premium,TRAI has now recommended a 3 year lock-in period for stake sale by companies,which have recently got licences, in a bid to prevent them from making windfall gains overnight.
Last year, DoT had suggested that existing telecom licensing norms be amended and a 3 to 5 year lock-in be imposed on the sale of promoters equity in new entrants, including Swan, Shyam, Unitech, Loop Telecom, STel and Datacom, which were given licenses in early 2008.The DoT had referred this proposal to TRAI.
While dealing with the issues, the main objective of the Authority has been to recommend measures to block the unearned gains arising from transaction in the stakes of promoters, particularly when the value of spectrum is not getting correctly reflected in the entry fee.
There should be a lock-in of the equity share capital of promoters, whose net-worth has been taken into consideration for determining the eligibility for grant of UAS(Unified access service) license, for a period of three years from the effective date of license.
