Telecom industry bodies seek uniform license fee
May 17, 2009

The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) and the CDMA operators association have appealed to the new Government to make the license fee uniform at 6% across all services.

Also on the agenda of the COAI are the expansion of rural connectivity and the commencement of the 3G spectrum auctions as soon as possible.

Govt. panel gives BSNL go ahead to award deal to Huawei
May 16, 2009

A government panel, comprising representatives from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Ministry of Defence, has granted permission to state owned telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to award a contract for telecom equipment to China’s Huawei.

BSNL had shortlisted Huawei and Ericsson to provide telecom equipment for its GSM expansion project. However, the IB and the defence ministry had objected to the contract being awarded to any Chinese company on grounds of security concerns.

The government panel has now allowed BSNL to place orders with Huawei, but only for India’s southern states as they have no international land borders.

Lower spectrum fee comes with a catch
May 15, 2009

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is going to announce a reduction in spectrum usage charges to a uniform 3% of the annual revenues of telecom companies. However, this comes with a catch.

Only those GSM operators who agree to pay a one time fee for excess frequencies they hold beyond the 6.2 MHz would be eligible for this reduced spectrum fee. Additionally, the one time fee would be equivalent to the market value of the excess spectrum, which will be decided by the upcoming 3G auction in the country.

SC stays TDSAT order to withdraw additional spectrum from BSNL
May 15, 2009

The Supreme Court set aside an order from the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that directed the Department of Telecom (DoT) to withdraw the allocation of additional spectrum to the state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL).

TDSAT had earlier told the DoT that it could not give preferential treatment to state owned telcos MTNL and BSNL and had directed it to withdraw additional spectrum. BSNL had filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging TDSAT’s order.

Govt. considers uniform levy regime
May 14, 2009

The communications ministry is considering bringing about a uniform levy regime for telecom operators in the country. The move follows allegations that telcos divert revenues earned from mobile services to other businesses in an attempt to bring down the amount due to the government as license fees and spectrum charges.

Under the current policies, telecom companies have to pay 6-10% of their annual revenues from mobile services as license fees and 2-6% as spectrum charges to the government. The levies differ from region to region and are based on services offered.

The DoT has asked a committee to submit its report on a uniform levy structure by May 30.

Govt. panel submits report on spectrum allocation
May 13, 2009

The committee appointed by the government to look into issues related to spectrum allocation and pricing has submitted its report to the Telecom Commission Chairman Siddhartha Behura.

The committee, headed by Additional Secretary in the Department of Telecom (DoT) Subodh Kumar, has suggested a shift to the auction model for allocation of spectrum rather than the current practice of subscriber based allocation.

TDSAT dismisses BSNL petitions on ADC
May 12, 2009

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) dismissed the petitions of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) challenging a TRAI order to remove the access deficit charge – a fee paid by private telecom operators to fund BSNL operations in rural and remote areas.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had abolished ADC from 2008-09. BSNL had challenged this order and said that this would reduce its revenues.