The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked incumbent operators to pay the one-time fee for spectrum held beyond 4.4 MHz from January 1, 2013 onwards, according to news reports. Operators holding excess spectrum have the option of paying the one-time fee to the government in equal installments for the remaining period of their licences, with an interest rate of 12.75 per cent.
It is believed that six incumbent operators have to pay a total of Rs 201.15 billion under this condition. For instance, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have to pay Rs 42.81 billion and Rs 29.69 billion, respectively, while Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited together have to pay about Rs 99.83 billion. However, DoT is likely to adjust the one-time-fee to be paid by the two operators against other payments.
DoT has calculated the one-time-fee on the basis of the recently concluded spectrum auction. Since the Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka circles did not receive any bids during the auctions, the charges levied on the operators are provisional. The charges will be adjusted based on the outcome of the next auction, scheduled for March 2013. Similarly, the one-time fee for spectrum in the 900 MHz band will also be adjusted once the forthcoming auction has concluded.
