FM privatisation hits roadblock
Mumbai: After a flurry of applications for the FM radio stations, all major players are in the process of pulling out. Leading among them is the Zee Group promoted, New Media, which had bagged the largest number of stations from all the applications made.

The Zee Group, Reliance, Nimbus and other players have backed out from furnishing FM radio licence bank guarantees. Now, with just one-third of the players surviving the race for expensive radio licences, this will mean much smaller revenues for the government than originally envisaged.

The applicants’ major grouse has been the draft agreement they were to sign is not in line with the original tender document. According to some applicants, the agreement contains "crippling provisions", which the applicants are not ready to comply with.

The ministry of information and broadcasting has informed the applicants of tough measures. The ministry has stated that it will forfeit the earnest money and advance license fee paid by the applicants.

Zee group company, New Media, has informed the ministry that if it were to take such a step it would file a writ petition against the government. Instead, the company has written to the ministry asking for a full refund of the earnest money and advance fee paid, together with interest theron.
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MTNL to set up panel for deciding on mobile tariff
New Delhi: Basic telephony services provider, MTNL, which is branching into cellular services, is constituting a four-member team from finance, commercial and marketing to work out a tariff plan for its proposed cellular mobile services. The proposed services, to be launched from January next year, are to be headed by Mr. S Sirohi, currently general manager.

The four-member team is to submit its recommendations to the management within a month. The telephone giant has stated that its pricing would be very competitive and that its cellular service would be a "common man’s phone".
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