Broadband
Cancel all Reliance Jio Spectrum licences, says CAG
NEW DELHI: The nationwide broadband spectrum allocated to Infotel Broadband Services, now a Reliance Industries company, should be cancelled for allegedly rigging the auction and violating rules, says the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
In a draft report sent to the Department of Telecom for comments, CAG said, “The DoT failed to recognise the tell-tale sign of rigging of the auction right from beginning of the auction” in which a small ISP, Infotel Broadband Services (IBSPL) emerged winner of pan-India broadband spectrum by paying 5,000 times of its networth.
The draft report says IBSPL which is ranked 150th in the list of ISP submitted an earnest money deposit of Rs 252.50 crore “through the covert and overt assistance of third party/private bank”, bid for Rs 12,847.77 crore (5000 times of its networth) for pan-India spectrum and then sold the company on the day of completion of the auction.
According to the draft report, these “indicated IBSPL’s collusion and sharing of the confidential information with a third party in violation of auction conditions/rules.”
According to news agency reports, the Mukesh Ambani-promoted RIL, which acquired IBSPL within hours of it winning the spectrum and later renamed it Reliance Jio, outrightly rejected any suggestion whereby spectrum was acquired in any manner other than through a transparent bidding process duly supervised by the Government. It also noted that this was not the final report as the DoT had not sent its comments.
An RIL spokesperson said the auction for the BWA spectrum was one of the most competitive auctions in the Indian telecom history which fetched final bid price more than six times the reserve price for the pan-India spectrum.
On bank guarantee, the spokesperson said according to the NIA, bidders were required to submit bank guarantee for desired amount as earnest money deposit (EMD) along with its application. “EMD was based on specific deposit requirement for each telecom circle. Accordingly, IBSPL submitted a bank guarantee of Rs 253 crore in format as prescribed in NIA. Since no money was deposited as EMD, the question of source of deposit does not arise,” the spokesperson said.
The draft CAG report said, “Due to inclusion of inadequate eligibility criterion for participation in the auction, the promoters of the IBSPL enriched themselves and made unfair gain.”
CAG rejected DoT’s response that the eligibility criterion for participation in the auction was finalised after due diligence and on sector regulator TRAI’s recommendations saying it was the department’s responsibility to ensure that only serious ISPs participated in the auction.
DoT in its response admitted that there was no eligibility criterion with respect to minimum net worth or paid up capital for participation in the auction.
“Neither the top management of the DoT nor the important committees could detect these tell tale signs of collusion and sharing of confidential information by the biggest bidder, a tiny Internet Service Provider (ISP).
“The IMC (inter-ministerial committee) did not satisfy itself as to how the IBSPL, a company with a networth of Rs 2.5 crore, would be able to pay the bid amount of Rs 12,847.77 crore within ten days,” it said.
CAG in the report said, “The government should get the matter investigated even at this juncture, fix responsibilities on the bidders, which violated the auction conditions/rules prescribed and cancel the allotment of the BWA spectrum along with exemplary punishment on the colluding firms.”
The CAG estimated that the decision of the government to allow an ISP licence holder having BWA spectrum to provide voice services against payment of Rs 1,658 crore resulted in undue advantage worth Rs 22,842 crore to Reliance Jio.
The DoT has said the auction rules allowed all kinds of telecom operators to participate in auction and there were no inherent limitation in providing voice service using BWA spectrum.
“Had the successful bidder of pan-India BWA spectrum obtained UAS licence (permits held by mobile phone service providers), he would have become eligible to use BWA spectrum to provide any of the service permitted under UASL including full mobile service,” the official source said.
Telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Aircel etc hold unified access service licence (UASL) that allows them providing full mobile phone services as well.
The BWA auction rules gave option to participants to procure BWA spectrum under UASL against payment of Rs 1,658 crore as paid by other operators but there was no guarantee of giving them initial spectrum as was given to incumbents.
CAG has rejected logic of DoT saying that auction guidelines linking of BWA spectrum with UASL is “unfair and highly inappropriate.”
According to the draft audit report, the IBSPL promoter director went on electronic media on June 11 2010 to confirm that they had been in talks with RIL during the course of auction process.
The report said it was in ‘gross violation of the confidential clause of NIA which had prohibited bidders and insiders from conveying any confidential information to any other person, including any other bidder or its insiders.’
The CAG has also indicted telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRA) for not giving clear recommendation and remaining a passive observer when changes were made in its suggestion to reduce quantum of spectrum in auction.
TRAI in 2006 had recommended to make available spectrum for entry of 12 players but finally only two blocks of spectrum were put for auction that restricted scope for entry to only two pan-India players.
Broadband
Tejas Networks names Arnob Roy as MD and CEO, overhauls top leadership team
The Bengaluru-based telecom gear maker reshuffles its entire top team even as quarterly revenue collapses by 83 per cent
BENGALURU: Tejas Networks is changing the guard at the top, and doing so at speed. The Bengaluru-headquartered telecom equipment maker has elevated Arnob Roy as managing director and chief executive officer, effective April 15, 2026, for a term running through to August 3, 2028, and in the same breath announced new appointments across operations and finance. The timing is pointed: the company is navigating one of the roughest patches in its recent history.
Roy steps up from his role as executive director and chief operating officer, a position he has held since March 2019. He brings more than three decades of experience in the high-technology sector across research and development, operations, and sales. His predecessor, Anand Athreya, resigned last year citing personal reasons and was relieved on June 20, 2025, leaving a gap at the top that has now been formally filled.
The numbers Roy inherits are sobering. Tejas posted a net loss of Rs 211.3 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, a near-194 per cent widening year on year from Rs 71.8 crore in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter collapsed 82.6 per cent year on year to Rs 333 crore, down from Rs 1,907 crore. EBITDA swung to a loss of Rs 118.2 crore against a profit of Rs 121.5 crore a year ago. The culprit is not hard to identify: Tejas has derived the bulk of its revenue from BSNL’s fourth-generation network project, delivered as part of a Tata Consultancy Services-driven consortium, and that roll-out is now winding down.
Roy, speaking during a post-earnings conference call with analysts, was candid about where the company has been. “The BSNL 4G network went live across 100,000 sites. We deployed our largest indigenous router networks in the country through the BSNL MAN network, as well as in the BharatNet Phase 3 network,” he said, adding that Tejas had also successfully rolled out its 400G and 800G DWDM equipment in domestic and international markets, and continued the deployment of what it describes as the world’s largest satellite IoT network through its vehicle tracking system solution.
The pivot to new revenue streams is already under way. Tejas has partnered with Japan’s Rakuten Symphony and NEC Corporation to push deeper into international markets, with several Open Radio Access Network trials ongoing, one of which concluded recently. The company is also diversifying across equipment categories and geographies to sustain momentum as the BSNL chapter closes.
To prosecute that strategy, Roy needs a full team around him. Preetham Uthaiah has been appointed chief operating officer, moving up from his current role as vice president of product management for wireless products at Tejas Networks. Uthaiah brings nearly 30 years of global experience spanning engineering, product management, and business development across India and the United States. Before joining Tejas Networks, he served as executive vice president of product management, marketing, and strategy at Saankhya Labs, and held senior roles at Tech Mahindra on both sides of the Atlantic. He holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a degree in electronics and communications from Karnatak University.
On the finance front, AVS Prasad has been approved as chief financial officer, effective May 16, 2026, succeeding Sumit Dhingra, who has resigned. Prasad, currently serving as finance controller at Tejas Networks, brings over 27 years of experience within the Tata Group across telecom, aerostructures, and defence. A company secretary and cost and management accountant by training, he has spent more than 15 years in senior finance roles including CFO and financial controller positions, with expertise spanning corporate finance, treasury management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, and governance.
New chief executive, new chief operating officer, new chief financial officer — all installed in a single move, at a moment when the company’s largest revenue source is drying up and the next chapter remains unwritten. Tejas Networks has placed its bets. Now it has to deliver.
