Mobile operators may have to pay higher yearly fees to the government for spectrum with Communication Minister A Raja today asking the Telecom Commission to review the annual spectrum charges being paid by service providers as licence fee.Raja's direction comes within a day of the government accepting Trai's subscriber-linked criteria for allotment of additional spectrum to existing GSM players. The commission has been asked to give its recommendations within 15 days."Since it has been decided to accept Trai subscriber base for allocation of additional spectrum, a decision needs to be taken on spectrum charges," Raja said in a note to Telecom Commission chairman D S Mathur.Sources said operators may be asked to pay higher charges for spectrum beyond a particular level. There has been demand that spectrum charges beyond 10 MHz should be increased to 10% of a firm's revenues.Telecom regulator Trai had in August recommended that spectrum charges in terms of percentage of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) may be enhanced.However, a decision on this was to be taken after finalising the subscriber linked criteria.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently said that there was need for maximising revenue from telecom sector without creating entry barriers and compromising on growth.FULL COVERAGE: SPECTRUM TANGLE
