The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has circulated a consultation paper seeking industry inputs on- methodology of applying spectrum usage charges (SUC) under the weighted average method of SUC assessment, in cases of spectrum sharing.
The consultation paper is aimed at facilitating more spectrum sharing among operators, thereby improving efficiency of network and reducing congestion while keeping costs low.
At present, an additional 0.5 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) is levied on access service providers as SUC when they share a spectrum band.
However, Department of Telecommunication has received requests that the additional fee must be levied only on the shared band and not on the entire spectrum band held by licensees.
To this end, TRAI has invited inputs from industry stakeholders on whether an increment in SUC rate is a deterrent for TSPs in entering into spectrum-sharing arrangements and whether there should not be any increment in SUC rate post sharing of spectrum to better facilitate spectrum sharing.
The deadlines for submitting comments and counter comments are May 20, 2020 and June 03, 2020, respectively.
