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NEW DELHI: The department of telecommunications (DoT<\/a>) will consider reducing licence fees, spectrum user charges and other levies in the new telecom policy<\/a> (NTP<\/a>) to drive investments in the sector, said a top official, adding that the new policy would signal that revenue generation is no longer the ministry’s primary concern.\n
“We are looking very closely at that (lowering licence fees and spectrum usage charges). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai<\/a>) has written to us on this twice… saying that this whole structure needs to be relooked at because it’s fairly high,” telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan<\/a> told ET.
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\nTelcos currently pay roughly 8% of annual adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as licence fee and another 3% of AGR as spectrum usage charges (SUC), which are the two key avenues of government earnings from the industry.
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\nSundararajan said through the NTP, the government would signal that ‘revenue’ is a secondary concern. “The primary concern has to be to ensure access and services to 1 billion people. So, if in the past, too much of a focus was on revenue, we need to correct that (in the NTP).”
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\n‘We Want Investment to Come Back’<\/strong>
These comments by the top bureaucrat of the department came a few days after telecom minister Manoj Sinha<\/a> told this newspaper that the sector should not be treated as a cash cow, and that levies that add to the government revenue, must be rationalised. The NTP is expected to be finalised by March end.
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\nThe views of the minister and the secretary will resonate with the telecom industry which has for long wanted a sharp reduction in levies and lower spectrum prices. Telcos claim that almost 30 paise of every rupee earned by them is paid as fees and taxes to the government, and this is a major reason for the industry’s Rs 7.7 lakh crore debt.
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\nSundararajan put telcos on notice over rising call drops and fears that the reduction in number of operators would result in cartelisation and increased tariffs.
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\n“We’ll be putting the industry on notice that quality of service has to be improved,” she said. “The message we want to give is that before you go out and acquire new customers, first set your house in order.”
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\nALSO READ: Rising call drops top priority for DoT in 2018, says Telecom Secretary<\/a><\/strong>
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\nSundararajan said telcos had shifted their focus from voice to data, without ensuring that there was enough infrastructure on ground to continue to support voice. “They should have made fresh investments in operations and maintenance,” she said.
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\nHEALTH IN FOCUS<\/strong>
\nDoT wants mobile phone operators to be healthy enough to invest in their business and work with the government to connect over 1 billion to the Internet.
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\n“We want to signal that we want investment coming back into the telecom sector. The main concern at this point in time is to create an investment climate,” said the telecom secretary.
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\nSaying that the worst is over for the industry, the secretary added that the sector should see stability returning after the second quarter FY19, by when most of the mergers and acquisitions would be complete. But she cautioned against any anti-competitive behavior by the three-four operators that will survive in the post-consolidation era.
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\n“We will be keeping a very close watch on anti-competitive behaviour and cartelisation. The Competition Commission of India, Trai and DoT will keep watch on this,” she said.
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\nThe government was considering granting infrastructure status to tower companies and giving a big fillip to the tower sector in NTP 2018 “because tower industry and fibre are equally important” as India moves to 4G and then onto 5G, said the secretary.
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\nStrong infrastructure is also needed for improving the quality of services, she said, and added DoT will hold a series of meetings with carriers after the data based on new quality of service norms becomes available after January 21. “Improving quality of services is our top priority in 2018,” said Sundararajan.
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新德里:电信部(点)将考虑减少许可证费用,频谱用户在新电信和其他税政策(国家结核控制规划)来驱动投资部门,一位高级官员表示,并补充称,新政策将发出一个信号,说明收入不再是铁道部的主要关注点。“我们正在密切关注,(降低许可费和频谱使用费用)。印度电信管理部门(火车)写在两次…说这整个结构需要重新在因为它是相当高的,”电信部长一边抚摸Sundararajan告诉等。
电信公司目前大约8%的年度调整总收入(AGR)执照费和另一个3%的AGR频谱使用费用(往下),这是两个政府收入行业的关键途径。
Sundararajan通过国家结核控制规划说,政府将“收入”的信号是一个次要问题。“主要关心的是确保访问和服务10亿人。所以,如果在过去,太多的重点是收入,我们需要正确的国家结核控制规划()。”
“我们希望投资回来”
这些评论的高级官僚部门几天前电信部长Manoj Sinha告诉本报,部门不应视乐动扑克为摇钱树,征税,增加政府收入,必须合理化。国家结核控制规划预计将完成在3月结束。
部长和部长的意见会产生共鸣的电信行业长期以来想要征税,降低频谱价格急剧下降。电信公司宣称每挣一卢比的近30 paise他们付出的费用和税收给政府,这是该行业的主要原因多数7.7卢比债券。
Sundararajan把电信公司电话通知对日益下降,担心减少数量的运营商将导致cartelisation和增加关税。
“我们会给注意到该行业的服务质量得到改善,”她说。“我们想给的消息是,在你出去之前获得新客户,第一套房子。”
还读:叫上升下降的重中之重点2018年,电信部长说
Sundararajan说电信公司已经将他们的注意力从语音数据,不确保有足够的基础设施在地面继续支持的声音。“他们应该在操作和维护进行了新的投资,”她说。
健康的关注
点想要移动电话运营商足够健康投资于他们的业务和工作与政府超过10亿连接到互联网。
“我们想表明我们想要回到电信业的投资。主要的问题在这个时间点是创建一个投资环境,”电信部长说。
行业说最坏的时候已经过去了,秘书说,该行业应该看到稳定FY19第二季度后返回,当大多数的并购将是完整的。但她警告称,任何反竞争行为的三四运营商将在post-consolidation时代生存。
“我们将非常密切关注反竞争行为和cartelisation。印度的竞争委员会,火车和点会继续关注这个,”她说。
政府正在考虑给予塔公司和基础设施状况给予很大的刺激来塔部门2018年国家结核控制规划”,因为塔工业和纤维是同等重要的”随着印度4 g,然后到5克,秘书说。
还需要强大的基础设施改善服务的质量,她说,添加点后将召开一系列会议与运营商基于新的服务质量规范的数据可用在1月21日。“提高质量的服务是我们的首要任务是在2018年,“Sundararajan说。
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