Factbox: Companies involved in 2G licence row

New Delhi: The Telecoms Ministry will send notices to five companies that were given 85 telecoms licences in 2008, asking why their licences should not be cancelled after a government auditor found the companies were not eligible for them.

The ministry will also send separate notices to 119 telecoms licensees that have not complied with services rollout obligations, India`s new telecoms minister Kapil Sibal said on Nov 28. Following are the companies that the government auditor had said were not eligible for getting licences as they suppressed facts, had inadequate share capital and some of whom gave false certificates regarding paid up capital. Unitech Wireless -- 22 licences Group companies of Indian realty firm Unitech Ltd that were given 22 telecoms licences had not fulfilled eligibility norms for getting these licences, the auditor said. The companies had suppressed facts, had less share capital than required, and submitted false certificates for paid up capital among other deficiencies found, the auditor said. The telecoms venture has since been bought into by Norway`s Telenor, which currently owns 67.3 percent of the venture with Unitech holding the remainder. LOOP TELECOM PRIVATE LTD -- 21 licences Loop Telecom, which was issued 21 telecoms licences, suppressed facts, its authorised share capital was much less than required, and it did not have telecom as the main object clause in its memorandum of association among other flaws, the auditor said. VIDEOCON TELECOMMUNICATIONS LTD -- 21 licences Videocon Telecommunications, formerly Datacom Solutions, is part of India`s Videocon group and was issued 21 licences. The auditor said the company had suppressed facts, had much less-than-required authorised share capital and submitted false certificates regarding the company`s paid-up capital. ETISALAT DB TELECOM PRIVATE LTD -- 15 licences Formerly Swan Telecom, the company had been given 13 licences and also later merged with itself another firm that had won 2 licences. Abu Dhabi`s Etisalat in late 2008 bought about 45 percent of the company that was then renamed Etisalat DB Telecom. The auditor said Swan had suppressed facts, had less-than-required authorised share capital, and submitted false certificates from its company secretary regarding paid-up capital. The auditor also said a unit of India`s No 2 telecoms firm Reliance Communications held over 10 percent of equity in Swan at the time of issue of the licences, which is a violation of rules. The telecoms minister said they would refer Swan`s case to the corporate affairs ministry to see if "front companies" were involved. S TEL LTD -- 6 LICENCES S Tel, which was given six licences, suppressed facts, had much less than the authorised share capital required to get the licences, submitted false certificate from its company secretary regarding paid up capital. Bahrain Telecommunications Co had bought a stake in S Tel, whose other major shareholder is India`s Siva Group. Bureau Report