Date:14/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111456961600.htm

National

Centre’s spectrum earning set to soar

Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI: The Centre’s earning from telecom licence fee and spectrum usage charges will go up from Rs.15,000 crore a year to a whopping Rs.30,000 crore by 2012, thanks to the massive monthly expansion of mobile subscriber base in the country.

The government is also planning to levy a one-time charge on players having over 6.2 MHz spectrum and this will add Rs.4,000 crore to its kitty.

“As the licence fee and spectrum usage charges are based on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) regime, the contribution of telecom operators to the exchequer will only grow over the years as the subscriber base continues to swell. With over 80-lakh mobile subscribers being added every month, the total subscriber base has already crossed 30 crore; and with this pace, the total number of mobile users in India is likely to cross 60 crore by 2012,” said a senior official of the Union Communications Ministry. The spectrum auction would have led to just one-time collection of revenue and would not have made it possible for the government to get hefty money from this fast growing sector year after year, the official said. It was this policy that ensured an uninterrupted flow of revenue to the exchequer.

Auction ruled out

The official said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in its recommendations, had clearly ruled out auction of spectrum for 2G players.

The TRAI had recommended that “keeping in view the objective of growth, affordability, penetration of wireless service in semi-urban and rural areas, the Authority [TRAI] is not in favour of changing the spectrum fee regime for a new entrant. Opportunity for equal competition has always been one of the prime principles of the Authority in suggesting a regulatory framework in telecom services. Any differential treatment to a new entrant vis-a-vis incumbents in the wireless sector will go against the principle of level-playing field,” the official pointed out.

When contacted, Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja said the Department of Telecommunications had issued new licences as per the prevailing policy framed as per the recommendations of the TRAI.