Dayanidhi Maran who is he, what is his fault and where is he?

May 27, 2004 Dayanidhi Maran is appointed telecom minister in the UPA Government.

 March 1, 2005 Dishnet Wireless applies for four additional licences, taking the number of its pending applications to seven.

November 3, 2005 The Government hikes FDI in telecom to 74 per cent.

December 14, 2005 Dayanidhi announces new Unified Access Service Licence (UASLl) norms unilaterally. The 78-section UASL guidelines do not talk about a process for allocating licences and 2G spectrum. There is no mention of first-come, first-served (FCFS) either. The guidelines, in the absence of recommendations from TRAI, reconfirm that the UAS licences/2G spectrum will be allocated (without a defined process) at auction prices fixed in 2001. There was no Cabinet decision, GoM decision or TRAI recommendations to back the guidelines, unlike in 2003 when the UASL guidelines were announced based on TRAI's recommendations and Cabinet approval.

December 31, 2005 Maxis buys out Dishnet Wireless. At this point, Dishnet Wireless has one active circle (Tamil Nadu, including Chennai), seven licences which are in the process of becoming operational, based on licences granted on April 21, 2004, and seven applications pending. Maxis is aware that the licences could be granted at any time.

January 11, 2006 Dayanidhi, who knows how much spectrum is available in each circle, writes to the Prime Minister stating that "one major bottleneck in sustained growth of telecom sector is the availability and non-allocation of spectrum. The GoM should therefore focus its attention on the vacation of spectrum by defence and other agencies". This demand for additional spectrum by Dayanidhi came within 11 days of Maxis taking over Dishnet Wireless.

January 12, 2006 A day after Maran writes to the Prime Minister, Maxis-owned Aircel puts in four additional applications for 'A' category circles and metros. The total number of its pending applications stands at 11.

February 1, 2006 Dayanidhi and the Prime Minister discuss the need for a GoM on the issue of spectrum.

February 23, 2006 Cabinet Secretariat announces via a secret notification dated 93/1/1/2006-Cab, the 'Constitution of a Group of Ministers (GoM) on vacation of spectrum and raising resources for the purpose'. The notification clearly states that it has been issued "with the approval of the Prime Minister" and the terms of reference (ToM) specifically include as item 3(e) spectrum pricing, including ensuring that spectrum pricing policy aims at revenues to fully offset the cost of vacation of spectrum.

February 28, 2006 Dayanidhi writes a letter to the Prime Minister, referring to his discussion of February 1, 2006 with him, and expressing surprise at the inclusion of spectrum pricing in the terms of reference for the GoM. Dayanidhi includes a new draft tor which has no mention of spectrum pricing, but only concentrates on making available for use additional spectrum/its vacation from various sources.

March-April 2006 Foreign Investment Promotion Board clears Maxis' 74 per cent FDI in Aircel.

December 5, 2006 Dayanidhi grants seven licences to Aircel at 2001 prices, consistent with his UASL guidelines of December 14, 2005 and without any revision of pricing even though the ToR for the GoM, which included spectrum pricing, dated February 23, 2006 is in force.

December 7, 2006 Based on Dayanidhis letter and the "PMs approval", a fresh TOR for the GoM is issued which drops spectrum pricing.