The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has requested Goolam Essaji Vahanvati, Attorney General of India for his opinion on DoT?s proposal to make it mandatory for all telecom operators to match the auction-determined price for their existing 2G spectrum for the remaining period of their licences.
DoT is seeking Vahanvati?s advice on the issue following the cancellation of 2G licences of 122 telecom companies including old and new operators by the Supreme Court order early this year.
Earlier DoT had come out with a cabinet note suggesting that existing telecom players should be charged auction determined price for the spectrum they hold. DoT is of the view that one-time fee is necessary for creating a level playing field in the telecom sector. As an alternative to telecom operators paying the one-time licence fee for their 2G licence, DoT has also suggested charging telecom operators holding start-up spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz.
If DoT? proposal gets approved then telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices would have to pay about Rs 1,000 billion as one time fee to the government for their 2G licences.
