“Telecom Sector Seeks Rationalisation Of Taxes, Spectrum At Lower Rates”
The telecom industry is seeking adequate spectrums at reasonable prices with easy payment norms, rationalisation of taxes and levies, and reduction in burden on companies due to old litigations in order to become long-term sustainable, according to a top official of Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) on Thursday.Ravinder Takkar, Managing Director and CEO of VIL, remarked at the India Mobile Congress that the government’s recent measures are steps toward alleviating financial stress and legacy issues in the sector.
“Looking ahead a decade, there is a need to make industry long-term sustainable…towards this goal, a few additional moves implemented more swiftly will be sufficient. Industry players are arguing that the first step should be to make ample spectrum available at reasonable costs and with simple payment conditions. Second, lowering the heavy burden of old legacy litigation in the sector, as recommended by the NDCP 2018, and third, streamlining taxes and levies in accordance with the recommendations of the NDCP 2018 “Takkar said.
He stated that after these challenges are overcome, the industry will strive to improve the “abysmally low levels” of average revenue per user (ARPU). All private telecom providers boosted their mobile call and service charges by 18-25 percent last month, but a few telecom businesses want it to rise even higher to reach ARPU of $300 per month.In the second quarter ending September 30, 2021, Reliance Jio’s ARPU was 143.6, while Bharti Airtel and VIL’s ARPUs were 153 and 109, respectively. Similar sentiments on spectrum prices were expressed by Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Akhil Gupta. “I’m hoping we’ll settle on reserve costs that are extremely low but with very strict rollout commitments,” Gupta added. “This would let operators invest more in networks and less in spectrum.”
He stated that spectrum will be provided by auction, with prices rising in the event of excessive demand. According to Gupta, certain state governments are still not on board with the federal government’s telecom network rollout programme.”This alignment, in my opinion, is urgently required. Come up with a solid, well-defined right-of-way policy that covers not only telecom towers and fibres, but also street furniture, which will be critical for 5G rollouts “Gupta explained.
Sanjay Malik, Nokia senior vice president and head of India Market, said that in order to deliver 5G grade services in India, additional mobile towers need to be connected via optical fibre cables (OFCs). Only 30-33 percent of all mobile base stations in the country are connected to OFC, according to industry estimates.
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