Trai for 5% levy on revenue of operators

Our eFE Bureau

New Delhi, Oct 3: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended a 5-per cent levy on the gross revenue of telecom operators to be contributed towards the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund to support basic service providers in rural telephone project. The levy, however, should be allocated out of the licence fee collected by the government, it says, adding that pure value-added service providers such as ISPs, e-mail, and voice mail service providers should be excluded from the levy.

However, the regulator has recommended that the capital and operational expenses should be compensated to the operators only for the installations made after the date of implementation of universal service levy (USL) ie, April 1, 2002.

“The Authority is of the opinion that for village public telephones, rural community phones and public tele-info centres installed prior to the date of implementation of universal service levy, only operating expenses should be considered as the cost component for USO support. For those installed/replaced from April 1, 2002 onwards, both capital recovery and operating expenses should be taken into account as costs,” says the regulator.

An USO administrator along with a board of seven members
Continued on Page 13Trai for 5% levy on revenue of operators
should also be established for managing Universal Service Fund (USF) by January 1, 2002 to implement the USO policy.

“This figure (5 per cent) appears to be adequate to support the Universal Service programme in its first phase of VPTs/PTICs as well as DELs in rural/remote areas. In subsequent years, the administrator may revise this figure depending upon the requirement,” said the regulator.

Trai has suggested that the licence fee realised from telecom operators may be bifurcated into two parts. One would be the designated portion of the Universal Service Levy, which may go to the Universal Service Fund. The balance would go to the Consolidated Fund of the Government of India. “Hence, no additional levy is proposed for funding USO. This also implies that even an increase in the USL will not adversely impact either service providers or the consumers,” it said.

Trai has set the target of installation of 6,07,491 village public telephones (VPTs) by March 2002 and achieving the objective of increasing the current rural tele-density of about 0.5 to 4 by the end of 2010.

It has recommended that Department of Telecommunication (DoT) in its role as licensor should direct both Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and private basic operators to give highest priority to the installation of all VPTs by the target date. And, all VPTs should also have STD facility within three years, suggested the regulator.

The Authority has also recommended that after achieving the target of one VPT in every village, a second rural community phone (RCP) should be installed at public places like school, primary health centres etc in villages with population more than 2000.

“Highest priority for support from Universal Service Fund should be given to VPTs. And Public Tele Info Centres (PTICs) and RCP to be installed in addition to VPTs,” Trai said defining the roadmap for rural telephony. By 2004, PTICs should be installed in 35,000 villages and by 2010, most VPTs should be upgraded to PTICs. In addition, high-speed PTICs should be installed in all blocks in the country by 2005 to promote tele-medicine and tele-education, it said.