New Delhi, March 01: Mobile phone tariffs are likely to go up in the coming months with the government announcing in the budget a steep hike in spectrum charges for all service providers based on global system for mobile (GSM) and code division multiple access (CDMA) technologies.
As per the latest notification issued by the Department of Telecom (DoT), the new charges vary between 3 per cent and 8 per cent depending upon the quantum of airwaves held by mobile operators. The new spectrum charges will come into force from April this year.
The telecom service providers have to pay a percentage of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the government as spectrum usage charge. The spectrum charge is apart from the licence fee the companies are paying.
As per the new charge, a GSM operator holding spectrum up to 4.4 Mhz will be paying 3 per cent of the AGR compared to 2 per cent now.
Similarly, CDMA players with spectrum up to 5.0 Mhz will have to pay 3 per cent of their AGR as spectrum charge instead of the existing 2 per cent.
Industry observers feel that the increase in the spectrum charges may have an impact on tariffs as the company may pass on this burden to consumers. Telecom companies are already suffering from the tariff war following the entry of new operators in the field.
A senior official in the DoT, told Deccan Herald that air waves are a “scarce resource.” Hence, the government decision to raise the charges.
-Agencies