Some foreign telecom companies whose 2G licences where cancelled by last week’s Supreme Court order predictably reacted with shock. Some speculated that this might scare away foreign investments and send the wrong signal to potential investors, with the government facing a “diplomatic headache” with foreign governments like those of Russia and Norway stepping in. And while it is true that Norway’s IT minister, now on a visit to this country, has sought a meeting with Mr Kapil Sibal on the issue, the dire warnings appear a little far-fetched. In fact, both Norway’s Telenor, with the largest number of customers among the affected foreign companies, which operates under the brand name Uninor, and Sistema, operating under the name of Sistema Shyam Telecom Services and with over 12.5 million customers, have clearly said they have no plans to stop operating in India. The other foreign companies — Etisalat and STel — have a negligible presence here.
It is useful to remember what Sam Pitroda, the original telecom czar, has said: the one billion-plus Indian market simply cannot be ignored. The foreign telecom firms already here, and those hoping to do business in future, know all too well which side their bread is buttered — they are hardly likely to just walk away. The 2G scam and the resale of licences by original holders to foreigners, sometimes at 10 times the price they paid, also raised such a stink that it is impossible for the foreign players to feign blissful ignorance of what they had got into.