The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, headed by P Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs has deferred the decision on one-time spectrum fee to be levied on the existing telecom operators, say news reports.
The EGoM will wait for the outcome of the on going presidential reference on the 2G spectrum auction in the Supreme Court before taking a decision on the issue. EGoM is considering the proposal of charging existing telecom operators with the auction-determined price for the remaining period of the spectrum held by them.
Earlier in the year, following the cancellation of 2G licence by the Supreme Court, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) circulated a cabinet note which proposed charging incumbent telecom operators with one-time licence fee for holding spectrum in excess of 4.4 MHz, for the remaining period of their licences. According to DoT, this move would create a level playing field for all the telecom players. However, the proposal was opposed by the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission. They believe that such a feemay not result in a level playing field as new operators may have access to advanced technologies and software which could translate to higher efficiency and lower costs for them.
