Cabinet refers one-time spectrum fee proposal to EGoM
In an interview to NDTV Profit, Mohan Shenoy, Treasurer, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said that bond yields will be rangebound. “A likely hike in the crude oil price is negative for the bond market,” he added. As far as the rupee is concerned, he said that it is
The cabinet on Tuesday referred to a ministerial panel a proposal to charge mobile phone carriers a one-time fee for their existing second-generation airwave holdings, based on a price to be determined by an upcoming auction, a senior government official said.
Any decision to charge a one-time fee would hit those mobile phone carriers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone's local unit and Reliance Communications, that are not affected by a Supreme Court order to revoke permits granted in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale and are not required to bid in the auction.
The government will sell 2G airwaves for the first time through an open auction, due by the end of August, following the Supreme Court order. Eight carriers which are set to lose some or all of their permits after the court order must bid in the auction to win those back.
The telecoms ministry has proposed asking all mobile phone operators to pay for their existing airwaves based on the auction-determined price for the remaining validity of their telecoms permits, in what government officials say is aimed at creating a level playing field.
India offers telecoms permits for 20 years.
The panel of ministers, which also has the final say on the auction rules, is yet to decide the base bidding price. The telecoms regulator had suggested an auction starting price that is nearly 10 times higher than what carriers paid in the 2008 sale, drawing howls of protests from the industry.
The panel's decision on the one-time fee will, however, have to be passed back to the cabinet for final approval.
Copyright @Thomson Reuters 2012