Scams everywhere…! Well the most prominent now is 2g spectrum scam…

What is 2G Spectrum Scam?

2G licenses were issued to telecom players on throwaway prices which caused the government a loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. Rules and procedures were not at all followed while issuing the licenses. Licenses were issued on first come first serve basis. TRAI had recommended auctioning of spectrum at market rates which was ignored by former telecom minister A. Raja.


Well what is 2G?

2G means second generation and spectrum means radio waves.

2G (or 2-G) is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Oyj) in 1991.


Radiolinja was a Finnish GSM operator founded on September 19, 1988. On March 27, 1991, the world's first GSM phone call was made in Radiolinja’s network. The network was opened for commercial use on July 1, 1991. There was the motto of the Radiolinja So that the Finns could talk more.

GSM - Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM (originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile), is the world's most popular standard for mobile telephone systems. GSM Association estimates that 80% of the global mobile market uses the standard. This ubiquity means that subscribers can use their phones throughout the world, enabled by international roaming arrangements between mobile network operators. The GSM standard has been an advantage to both consumers, who may benefit from the ability to roam and switch carriers without replacing phones, and also to network operators, who can choose equipment from many GSM equipment vendors. GSM also pioneered low-cost implementation of the short message service (SMS), also called text messaging, which has since been supported on other mobile phone standards as well. The standard includes a worldwide emergency telephone number feature


Emergency services number, allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency telephone number may differ from country to country. It is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. A traveler visiting a foreign country does not have to know the local emergency numbers, however. The mobile phone and the SIM card have a preprogrammed list of emergency numbers. When the user tries to set up a call using an emergency number known by a GSM or 3G phone, the special emergency call setup takes place. Most GSM mobile phones can dial emergency calls even when the phone keyboard is locked, the phone is without a SIM card, or an emergency number is entered instead of the PIN.



Radio signals on 2G networks are digital. 2G has been superseded by newer technologies such as 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, and 4G;

Three primary benefits of 2G networks over their predecessors are:

1. Phone conversations were digitally encrypted, hence gives far more privacy

2. 2G systems were significantly more efficient on the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels

(Mobile phone penetration rate is a term generally used to describe the number of active mobile phone numbers [usually as percentage] within a specific population.)

3. 2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages.


First downloaded media content was also introduced in 2G phones. Ringtones were downloaded and paid for. Mobile advertising was also introduced when SMS was used for sending advertisements and short headlines of news.


The technology used in 2G cell phones in India for the purpose of transferring information are –

Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
Code division multiple access (CDMA)
Time division multiple access (TDMA)


The Frequency division multiple access allots each call to a different frequency, the Code division multiple access provides a unique code to each call and the Time division multiple access gives each call a time span on the appointed frequency.