Operators may have to pay more for spectrum

Raja asks Telecom Commission to review charges

Mobile operators may have to pay higher yearly fees to the government for spectrum, the radio frequencies that enable mobile communications.

Communication Minister A Raja today asked the Telecom Commission, which is responsible for policy formulation, licensing and wireless spectrum management among other things, to review the annual spectrum charges that service providers pay as licence fee.

Raja's directive comes within a day of accepting the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on higher subscriber-linked criteria for operators of GSM mobile services to qualify for 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 the Trai subscriber base for the allocation of additional spectrum, a decision needs to be taken on spectrum charges," Raja said in a note to Telecom Commission Chairman DS Mathur.

Sources said operators may be asked to pay higher charges for spectrum beyond a particular level. There has been a demand that spectrum charges beyond 10 MHz should be increased to 10 per cent of a firm's revenues.

In August, Trai had recommended that spectrum charges in terms of percentage of operators' 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 a need to maximise revenue from the telecom sector without creating entry barriers and compromising on growth.