2g spectrum scam

2G Spectrum Scam The Rs 1,76,000 crore loot in telecom by the UPA govt 1) What is spectrum? What is its relation with mobile phone services? Spectrum is airwaves. Each operator is assigned a set of frequencies. In normal basic telephone service, a pair of wires is used for communication. But in case of mobile/wireless communications, airwaves are used instead of wires. These spectrum/airwaves are licensed by the Government. It is allocated in Mega Hertz (MHz) in telecom licenses. 4.2 MHz is given as start-up spectrum, which is topped up by 1.8 MHz to make it 6 MHz (4.2 + 1.8 MHz), and so on. 2) Why spectrum is called a scarce national resource? Worldwide different frequencies are used for different purposes depending on the characteristics of each frequency. For enabling seamless communication throughout the world, the international telecom organizations (operators, manufacturers, government of each country) have specified certain frequency bands for mobile services. These frequencies have been standardised. Every second, there are thousands of simultaneous calls. Every call has to be assigned a different frequency so that they do not cause interference. The frequencies are limited. This is why it is called scarce resource. 3) What is the 2G spectrum and 3G? 2G is the 2nd Generation of mobile phone services. Next phase of mobile services is 3G, or 3rd Generation. The difference between 2G and 3G is that we can have faster internet services in 3G, whereas in 2G the speed is slow. 4) How the telecom operation is administered? The entire country is divided into 22 Telecom Circles and Metros. Each state is one circle, like Bihar, UP (E), UP (W), Tamil Nadu, etc. All the seven sisterly states in the North East except Assam, comes under a single circle called North East Circle. There are now three Metros (Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata), the fourth Metro (Chennai) was combined in Tamil Nadu circle. For every Circle or a Metro, a separate telecom license is issued. For