JOIN USWelcoming Trai’s decision to stick to its stated position for flat spectrum usage charge(SUC), industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday said that the government should move to a flat levy for spectrum usage charge as suggested by Trai.
COAI said that the government should clearly specify a timeline in case it decides to adopt an interim weighted average formula.
“The Cabinet and the Telecom Commission are not so constrained and should move to what Trai sees as the appropriate SUC regime, which is a flat SUC rate, and not a weighted average approach,” COAI Director General Rajan S Maathews said here.
He further said that if the Cabinet decides to adopt an interim weighted average method, it should clearly specify in the Notice Inviting Applications(NIA) when it intends to move to a flat spectrum usage rate, as recommended by the telecom watchdog.
Telecom regulator on Tuesday reiterated its suggestion of charging mobile operators a flat spectrum charge as it picked holes in the existing method used by the government to collect levy for use of airwaves.
Trai also suggested using alternative elements to determine the weighted average formula. It added that DoT should take into account benefit that a spectrum band delivers and bid price of airwaves as factors to determine an “approximate” value for calculating SUC.