NEW DELHI: Telecom commission on Tuesday stood by its decision to levy 3% spectrum usage charge (SUC) of adjusted gross revenue on telecom operators.
Weighted average will be calculated between broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, the current SUC rate and the spectrum that will be acquired in future by the company, the source added.
To prevent loss of revenue for the government, telecom operators will pay a minimum amount that they are paying as per 2015-16 rates. The annual SUC collection is at around Rs 7,000 crore.
“DoT to move Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultation on spectrum auction in a week. All the spectrum bands will be auctioned simultaneously,” sources said.
The sources added that the SUC for Reliance Jio, which has panIndia licence to offer high-speed broadband services, will go down to 2.88%, from 5%. For Airtel, it will fall from 4.9% to 3.74%.
DoT will move the Cabinet note on spectrum auction in a week for inter-ministerial consultations and place it before the Cabinet for a final decision.
The proposal to reduce the SUC to 3% from 5% was cleared by the telecom commission in April.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended a uniform SUC of 3% but the recommendation faced stiff opposition from Reliance Jio. RelJio holds pan-India BWA spectrum on which 1% SUC is imposed.
{{/usCountry}}The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended a uniform SUC of 3% but the recommendation faced stiff opposition from Reliance Jio. RelJio holds pan-India BWA spectrum on which 1% SUC is imposed.
{{/usCountry}}Industry body COAI had sought a uniform SUC of 3% to be brought down to 1% in a phased manner.