Separate spectrum fee for 2G entrants
Now, players who pay Rs 1,651 crore for the pan-India licence will also have to dish out the one-time spectrum fee. Technology at its best
By Joji Thomas Philip, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The government is set to fix a one-time entry fee for all new players who plan to offer second-generation (2G) mobile services in the country. This start-up fee, which is expected to run into a few thousand crores, will be besides the Rs 1,651 crore that all entrants have to pay for a pan-India 2G spectrum licence.
The department of telecom has already set up a committee to fix the fee for 2G spectrum entry, a DoT source told ET.
All mobile services in India are currently offered using 2G radio frequencies. Till date, a pan-India licence to offer 2G telecom services came bundled with 4.4 MHz of GSM spectrum. Here, service providers were only charged a percentage of their annual revenues as spectrum fee. Now, players who pay Rs 1,651 crore for the pan-India licence will also have to dish out this one-time spectrum fee before they are allocated radio frequencies.
Simply put, the licence will be delinked from spectrum and the existing fee of Rs 1,651 crore will be applicable only for the licence.
DoT has also decided that all existing operators will have to pay this start-up fee for additional spectrum proportionate to the quantum of extra frequency they get, a top DoT source said.
This start-up fee is likely to apply to all players who have sought licences from January 2007. This implies that all the 22 companies who are set to be issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) by DoT for launching mobile services will have to pay this start-up fee. Besides, players such as Reliance Communications, the Tatas and others who are looking to offer services on dual technology (GSM as well as rival CDMA technology) and are awaiting the allotment of GSM spectrum to begin services on this platform will also have to pay this fee.
However, DoT is yet to decide if players like Idea, Vodafone and Aircel, all of which had applied for spectrum before December 2006, and also hold licences, will have to pay this fee. Idea holds licences in 2 circles, Aircel in 7 and Vodafone in 6, but have not been allotted spectrum to begin services. The official said the prime minister was referring to this start-up fee when he said on Wednesday that the government must not lose sight of the revenue potential from this scarce resource.
The department of telecom has already set up a committee to fix the fee for 2G spectrum entry, a DoT source told ET.
All mobile services in India are currently offered using 2G radio frequencies. Till date, a pan-India licence to offer 2G telecom services came bundled with 4.4 MHz of GSM spectrum. Here, service providers were only charged a percentage of their annual revenues as spectrum fee. Now, players who pay Rs 1,651 crore for the pan-India licence will also have to dish out this one-time spectrum fee before they are allocated radio frequencies.
Simply put, the licence will be delinked from spectrum and the existing fee of Rs 1,651 crore will be applicable only for the licence.
DoT has also decided that all existing operators will have to pay this start-up fee for additional spectrum proportionate to the quantum of extra frequency they get, a top DoT source said.
This start-up fee is likely to apply to all players who have sought licences from January 2007. This implies that all the 22 companies who are set to be issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) by DoT for launching mobile services will have to pay this start-up fee. Besides, players such as Reliance Communications, the Tatas and others who are looking to offer services on dual technology (GSM as well as rival CDMA technology) and are awaiting the allotment of GSM spectrum to begin services on this platform will also have to pay this fee.
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However, DoT is yet to decide if players like Idea, Vodafone and Aircel, all of which had applied for spectrum before December 2006, and also hold licences, will have to pay this fee. Idea holds licences in 2 circles, Aircel in 7 and Vodafone in 6, but have not been allotted spectrum to begin services. The official said the prime minister was referring to this start-up fee when he said on Wednesday that the government must not lose sight of the revenue potential from this scarce resource.
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