AUSPI alleges one-time spectrum charge favours existing operators

The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) has opposed the one-time charge for spectrum already held by existing licencees for the remaining period, alleging it is skewed in favour of the incumbent GSM operators.

''The proposal suffers from several legal infirmities and it would not be in conformity with the licence conditions. The proposal, apart from being legally untenable, is skewed in favour of the incumbent GSM operators whose balance license period is only a few years,'' AUSPI said in a letter to telecom minister Kapil Sibal.

The department of telecommunications had recommended that existing operators should be asked to pay a price for the spectrum they currently hold, after the price of spectrum is fixed in the upcoming auction.

It would also cause ''incalculable'' damage to the businesses and investments made by our members - including Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communication - over the last several years on the basis of the promises contained in the license agreements, it added.

Terming the proposal as "highly discriminatory'' against its members, AUSPI said that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular would have 8, 10 and 9 licenses respectively due for renewal out of 22 licenses in 2014 to 2016 and these companies have paid much lower amount than Rs1,659 crore on Pan India basis for acquiring their Pan India licenses.

The association also said that metros and most of category 'A' circles will be due for renewal in 2014 to 2016, which have much higher spectrum fee than category B and C circles. The three incumbent operators - Airtel, Vodafone and Idea - will be paying only for two to four years for highly priced circles.

Aircel would be paying for 8 to 12 years, while Reliance and Tata will be paying for both GSM and CDMA spectrum for 8 to 12 years, it said. ''The proposal would mean the operators having enjoyed free spectrum for a longer period of time will pay for lesser period of time and those who have got licences later will have to pay for a longer period. This is clearly arbitrary and discriminatory,'' it added. The body also said it would "aggravate the prevailing inequality among old GSM operators and others".

The DoT has proposed that instead of charging for spectrum held beyond 4.4 MHz, incumbents should be asked to pay for the entire spectrum that they hold in order to ensure a level playing field among operators.