2G: Etisalat denies wrongdoing, will ‘resolutely contest’ charges

Dubai-based telecom operator Etisalat on Sunday denied any culpability in the 2G telecom scandal, and said its Indian affiliate Etisalat DB would strongly contest the charges framed against it on Saturday.

In a filing on Sunday with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Oussama Al Rifai, Etisalat acting group chief financial officer, made it abundantly clear that the January 2008 spectrum allocation now under investigation happened well before the company entered India.

"The charges are related to events that occurred at least one year prior to Etisalat's investment in Swan Telecom - subsequently renamed EDB. Etisalat had no knowledge of any wrongdoing in the licence application process for Swan and had no involvement in it," Al Rifai said in the filing.

Al Rifai said Etisalat's vetting of the facts "has not established any basis for the charges levied against EDB and it expects EDB to defend the charges resolutely".

In its interim third-quarter filing to ADX, Etisalat confirmed that on "April 2, 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation of India filed a chargesheet alleging certain irregularities at the time of grant of the telecom licence to Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd … along with certain other operators".

The Comptroller & Auditor General of India has estimated that the country may have lost up to Rs1.76 lakh crore ($39 billion) in revenue when the telecom ministry gave out lucrative licences and radio spectrum in 2007/08 at below-market prices, and many ineligible firms were favoured in the grant of licences.