The Hindu Business Line : SP’s entry has GSM operators worried

New Delhi, July 23 The new political equation at the Centre is making existing GSM players concerned at the possibility that a slew of policy measures may be proposed aimed at stifling their growth.

One such proposal, according to the GSM operators, is to impose a one-time entry fee on all existing players who hold more than 6.2 Mhz spectrum.

Mr Amar Singh, MP and leader of the Samajwadi Party, had earlier written to the Prime Minister to impose a fee on operators. If this proposal is finalised then companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular may end up paying out at least Rs 10,000 crore.

Excess spectrum

The Department of Telecom has already started work on this move and has prepared a draft paper. While this proposal to put a fee on excess spectrum was earlier mooted by the Finance Ministry also, it may pick up momentum under the new political structure.

GSM industry representatives said that they would be meeting the Prime Minister and other Ministers in a bid to scuttle this proposal. Mr Singh has also proposed a tax on windfall profits on GSM players.

Positives

On the positive side, the vote of confidence has made this Government more stable which would enable it to push through a number of much awaited policies very quickly.

This includes the policy for third generation mobile services, which has been delayed by more than a year due to differences within the various Government agencies.

Top sources in the Department of Telecom said that the policy would be announced anytime now. They said that the auction and the licensing process would be completed before the end the Government’s tenure next year. Guidelines for wireless broadband services will also be announced shortly.

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