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A day after the Cabinet cleared the proposal to levy spectrum usage charge (SUC) at 5 per cent weighted average of adjusted gross revenue of telecom operators, the country’s largest telecom operator by subscriber base Bharti Airtel has written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary M F Farooqui seeking clarification on the methodology of weighted average.
It stated that the same methodology should be adopted for both 2G and 3G and in spectrum bands 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz collectively taken into account while calculating the weighted average of SUC.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also said the companies that do not bid in the auction will continue to be charged at existing rates varying from 3 to 8 per cent.
“The spectrum acquired in the current auction will be charged at 5% of AGR. In cases of combination of existing spectrum in this band and spectrum acquired through the auction, the weighted average will apply to all the spectrum held by the operator in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band,” according to a statement by the Government.
Licensees who do not acquire spectrum in this auction shall continue to pay SUC according to the existing slab rate, it added. However, the rate for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum holders like Reliance Jio Infocomm has been kept unchanged. “In respect of BWA spectrum acquired through auction in 2010, SUC will continue to be charged as per present practise, and the operator would be required to report the revenue earned from BWA spectrum separately,” the Government statement added.
