The GSM industry body has written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to implement flat spectrum usage charges (SUC) on telecom operators. According to GSM, such a move would encourage more participation in the upcoming auctions and bring in higher revenue to the government.
Earlier, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in its recommendations on the valuation and reserve price of spectrum, had proposed a flat SUC in place of the current charge which varies from three to eight per cent, depending upon the quantum of spectrum help by an operator. TRAI, while suggesting that flat SUC of three or five per cent should be imposed on the operators depending upon whether the spectrum was acquired through auctions or a mix of entry fee and auctions, respectively, had left the final decision on the percentage of SUC to be levied on DoT.
GSM body?s latest communication comes over an internal estimate by DoT which shows that if the government were to accept TRAI?s recommendation of a flat SUC, then it could cause a loss of Rs 26.57 billion to the exchequer over a period of 10 years.
Citing the explanation given by the regulator, the industry body has said that the current system is full of anomalies and it imposes discriminatory and differential spectrum costs on different operators for the same spectrum acquired through the same auctions. Therefore, DoT should take immediate steps to impose new SUC charges on operators.
