Unable to finalise its views on the annual spectrum fee today, inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission will meet again after 2-3 days to discuss the matter, sources said.
"Telecom Commission discussed the matter (spectrum usage charge) but it needs further deliberations. There will be another meeting next 2-3 days for further discussion," a government official said after meeting. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had in September recommended levying a uniform spectrum usage charge (SUC) of 3 per cent of the revenues earned by mobile operators from April 1, 2014 and keeping the upper limit of SUC at 5 per cent.
Levied annually by the government, SUC varies from 3-8 per cent for mobile service providers and 1 per cent for holders of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum that can be used for 4G services.
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The uniform SUC, if implemented as recommended by Trai, will provide relief to mobile operators such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, but will increase rates for BWA spectrum holders including Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL).
"Telecom Commission will look at exploring additional options for a revenue neutral regime," the source said. The panel is learnt have worked out 6 SUC scenarios and their probable revenue impact on the exchequer.
While GSM players like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Uninor have been demanding implementation of uniform SUC, RJIL has opposed any such move.
Videocon Telecom has too opposed any change SUC regime for spectrum that has been already allocated but has demanded to bring it down to 1 per cent for spectrum procured through auction route.
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