 "2G: Telcos asked to pay Rs 8,000 cr spectrum fee by 15 Jan")
The government has asked telecom operators to pay the first instalment of Rs 8,115.68 crore of one-time spectrum fee by 15 January, sources said.
“If telecom operators opt to make payment in instalments, then first instalment of all companies will be little over Rs 8,000 crore which they will have to pay by 15 January,” a government source said.
[caption id=“attachment_586133” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption]
Sources said that the first instalment for Vodafone amounts to around Rs 2,093 crore. Airtel will have to pay Rs 1,758 crore, BSNL Rs 1,282.98 crore and MTNL Rs 916 crore. Idea Cellular must pay Rs 810 crore (includes Rs 84.45 crore of Spice Communications), Aircel Rs 584 crore (includes Rs 1.98 core of Dishnet), Loop Mobile Rs 607 crore and Reliance Communication about Rs 63 crore.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel and RCom declined to comment on the issue, while no immediate comment could be received from other operators.
The Director General of GSM players body COAI, Rajan Mathews said that their “members are evaluating legal options and may approach court over the issue”.
Initially, telecom firms were given 4.4 MHz spectrum along with licence on payment of Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India operations and later they were entitled to get another 1.8 MHz on fulfilment of a certain subscriber-base criteria.
In November however, the government decided that the operators should pay for holding spectrum above 6.2 MHz retrospectively, from July 2008 to January 1, 2013.
After that, for spectrum above 4.4 MHz, they would have to pay for the remaining period of their licences based on auction held last November.
As per this decision, DoT issued demand notice to telecom operators on 9 January.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe government is likely to get Rs 4,251.83 crore from retrospective charges, and Rs 18,925.82 from prospective charges for excess radiowaves held by mobile operators.
In all, around Rs 23,177 crore is expected from the levy of this one-time spectrum fee, sources added.
Sources said the Department of Telecom (DoT) has tentatively fixed provisional rates for spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band for Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka circles where it did not receive any bids, as also for the more efficient 900 MHz band.
Telecom operators have been asked to pay the amount in equal annual instalments for the balance number of years of licence in a manner that the last instalment is paid a year before the expiry of company’s licences.
The government has given option to telecom operators who are not willing to pay the one-time fee to surrender their additional and excess spectrum.
PTI
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TelecomIndia_Airtel_Reuters_380x255.jpg){kind=link}