New telecom policy announced, uniform license introduced

New Delhi: India announced a uniform telecom license fee policy under the new telecom policy on Wednesday. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal announced that the telecom regulator will announce a migration path for existing license holders to the uniform license regime.

"All future licences wold be unified and telecom spectrum in each city for operators would be alloted separately," telecom minister said.

The new policy does away with the previous licence policy of allocating the spectrum to telecom companies in various telecom circles based on regions. This means companies like Vodafone or Bharti Airtel had to acquire different licences to operate in different cities across India. Going forward, they can pay a migration fee and acquire a national uniform licence.

The announcement assumes significance after the Supreme Court verdict that set aside the allocation of 122 licenses in 2008. Sibal said that the government was still examining implications of the verdict.

Highlights of the new telecom policy:

• The new policy to have uniform license fee across telecom sector
• TRAI to recommend migration path for telecom companies
• All future licenses will be unified licenses
• Telecom spectrum to be allotted separately
• Government sets rules for mergers and acquisition between telecom companies
• There will be an entry charge for migration to the unified licence
• Licenses to be renewed for 10 years after expiry
• License fee will be implemented in FY13 for 2 years
• Uniform license fee up to 8 per cent of adjusted gross revenue of the telecom company