The Ministry of Finance has opposed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India?s (TRAI) proposal to impose a flat spectrum usage charge (SUC) of three per cent on operators, say news reports. Instead, the ministry has proposed higher SUC charges.
While the TRAI had proposed to bring in a uniform fee irrespective of the quantum of spectrum held by an operator, the Ministry of Finance wants to continue with the existing slab-based SUC system with a few changes. The ministry has suggested an alternative which arrives at the SUC charges based on the weighted average of the SUC charges currently being paid by operators and the SUC charges recommended by TRAI. For example, if an operator holding 6.2 MHz of GSM spectrum currently pays 4 per cent of its annual revenue as SUC charges and in case the operator acquires additional spectrum in the forthcoming spectrum auction, then it would have to pay five per cent of its annual revenue for holding 8.2 MHz of spectrum under the existing system. The SUC charges based on this proposition works out to be 3.7 per cent. The alternative proposed by the ministry would lower the net impact on operators compared with the existing slab rate, majority of the GSM operators have supported TRAI?s proposal to impose uniform SUC charges.
The Ministry?s suggestion was taken up for discussion by the Telecom Commission, which could not arrive at a decision owing to a lack of consensus. The Telecom Commission is expected to meet again in next two to three days to take a final decision on the matter.
