Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), has urged the government to cut the hefty levies to enable telecom operators to boost cash generation and invest in capital-intensive 5G networks.
According to Moondra, the total telecom levies payable to the government, including the price of spectrum, amount to 58 per cent of overall industry revenue. In a country where tariffs are the lowest, India’s telecom industry has the highest levies as compared to other countries. He added that including the price of spectrum, converting it to an annuity value and calculating that as a percentage of revenue, an additional 28 per cent of industry revenue over and above the visible 30 per cent is charged, comprising goods and services tax (GST) of 18 per cent and licence fees/spectrum usage charges of 12 per cent.
Accordingly, he said that the government needs to reduce the levies burden on the sector so that operational cash generation can actually be released for investment, especially when there is a requirement for telcos to invest in capital-intensive next-generation wireless broadband networks. Moondra also called on the government to take steps to further ease right-of-way (RoW) rules to drive 5G deployments and adoption.
