The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to levy a weighted spectrum usage charge (SUC) for all spectrum held by telecom operators. This move is in contrast with DoT’s previous stand that revenue arising out of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum would entail a annual fee of separate one per cent of the adjusted gross revenue.

This comes after DoT committee was unable to find a methodology to segregate revenues arising out of the broadband wireless access spectrum and revenue from other spectrum bands of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. It thus proposed that the government charge a weighted average of the total BWA spectrum held by an operator and total airwaves in the other bands of 900/1800 (with weights being quantity of spectrum held) in order to arrive at the specific charge each operator is required to pay.

This move is likely to affect Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), which has opposed changing the SUC for the BWA spectrum from 1 per cent, on the grounds that it was a part of the 2010 auction rules. It has also provided alternate methods to DoT to segregate revenues from different bands of spectrum. However, DoT has rejected these methodologies, on the grounds that they are complex and short-lived as newer technologies in future could leave these methodologies redundant.