Airtel writes to Raja, says 2G fee demand unfair

The country’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Wednesday opposed the recommendation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that operators pay for 2G spectrum that they hold beyond 6.2 MHz.

The country’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Wednesday opposed the recommendation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that operators pay for 2G spectrum that they hold beyond 6.2 MHz.

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In a letter to Communications and IT Minister A. Raja, the company has written that the recommendations, if implemented, would undo the Indian telecom growth story.

TRAI feels spectrum is a scarce national resource and should be used judiciously. Hence all operators should pay for it. But existing GSM operators are against this view.

“It means that any operator who has been allocated spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz in 2006 shall pay the enhanced charge despite the fact that government has allocated spectrum in 2008 to the new licencees at a fixed price of Rs 1,650 crore,” the letter said.

“We therefore feel no one-time spectrum charge can be levied for any previous allocations against the terms and conditions of licence or allocations. If at all any such charge, it has to be very reasonable for the operators who have invested hugely to build rural networks.”