Airtel, Vodafone and Idea oppose DoT’s plan to impose a fee on excess spectrum

Several operators including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar have opposed the Department of Telecommunications? (DoT) plan to impose a one-time fee on additional spectrum held by them.

The operators have said that this goes against the existing policy.

DoT plans to levy a one-time charge on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular for holding extra spectrum beyond the contractual limit of 6.2 MHz, as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

TRAI had recommended that each MhZ of additional spectrum, after the 6.2 MHz limit, held by operators should be charged Rs 45.71 billion (all-India).