The telecom commission on Monday agreed to charge a one-time spectrum fee on mobile operators holding spectrum beyond 6.2 mhz. While members have agreed that all future 2G spectrum allotments be made through auction, the spectrum already with the mobile operators should be priced at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) or the 3G spectrum auction price, whichever is higher.
The toss between the regulator?s recommendation and the 3G auction price has been proposed since the per mhz price of spectrum beyond 6.2 mhz for the metro circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata recommended by the regulator?s expert committee is as low as 25% of the 3G auction, but it is as much as 877% for a circle such as West Bengal.
Sources, however, told FE that the major topic of discussion at the commission?s meeting on Monday was that if one-time fee is to be levied on retrospective basis, than what should be the date ? 2002 when the allocation of spectrum was allowed or 2008 when the finance ministry had suggested that it should be levied on a retrospective basis.
The first allotment of spectrum beyond 6.2 mhz was made in 2002 under the NDA regime but it was only in 2008 that the government began adding the clause that it reserved the right to charge an upfront price for additional spectrum. And it is on the basis of this particular clause that operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone repeatedly urged the government to charge only for the additional spectrum allotted after the government added it.
As reported by FE on December 22, finance secretary R Gopalan at the TC meeting held on December 9 had insisted that the TC must charge retrospectively from 2002 since this view was endorsed in 2008 by the then finance minister, P Chidambram, the telecom minister A Raja and even the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
On the issue of mergers and acquisitions, the Telecom commission has ratified the Trai?s recommendation that all amalgamations which result in a market share of less than 35% should be put on an automatic route. But the members are of the view that since the regulator has proposed a cap of 25% spectrum on the merged entity as a pre-requisite for approval, there was no need to limit the market share at 60% as had been proposed by the regulator. ? A 25% cap on the amount of spectrum held by a company will automatically ensure that there are at least four mobile operators in each circle and that should be it. TC has further asked the regulator to frame guidelines over how to treat proposals for amalgamation if the market share exceeds 35%?, sources privy to the matter said.
The TC also approved the the regulator?s proposal on spectrum sharing which will allow operators to share spectrum, but the TC has added a clause that the combined market share of the spectrum held by the operators must not cross the 25% threshold limit.
