superdudebuddy
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Broadband tariffs to rise as TRAI proposes higher revenue share
Broadband customers may soon have to pay close to 6% higher tariffs for basic services, if a new proposal by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is accepted. TRAI has recommended that a flat 8% adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charge should be levied on all internet service providers (ISPs), as well as all holders of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, which includes 4G players such as Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
However, for BWA license holders who have not yet rolled out services, TRAI has proposed to levy a presumptive AGR of 5% of sum of the total bid amount by the spectrum holder for the respective service area where they hold BWA spectrum, as applicable to the licensees who obtained spectrum in the auctions conducted in November 2012 and March 2013.
The recommendation will now be sent to the Department of Telecom (DoT), which will then pass it on to the Telecom Commission for final passing.
This shows the government has not got its priorities right, especially given the tax holidays they have provided in other areas of public interest. This reccomendation if passed in its current form, will lead to slowdown in broadband penetration, as it will considerably shoot up cost of operations for ISPs. They will pass it on to their consumers, which, depending on their tariff plan, could be an increase of close to 5-6%."
BWA players who won spectrum in the 2010 auctions include Bharti Airtel, Qualcomm, Infotel, Augere, Aircel and Tikona. Out of these players, only Bharti Airtel has so far rolled out BWA services in the form of 4G, and has bought out Qualcomm's BWA spectrum as well. Reliance Jio, which bought Infotel's spectrum, is expected to roll out 4G services by September.
This, TRAI believes, will hep the government plug loss of revenues accruing to it from ISPs and BWA spectrum holders who have yet not rolled out services, despite obtaining the spectrum in 2010.
This comes at a time when broadband players are already losing revenues to mobile operators who are engaged in a massive data tariff war – and hence such a step could further hurt their profitability.
India's broadband subscribers at the end of February 2014 were 58 million, while total mobile consumers were 903.36 million.
Read Full Here
Broadband customers may soon have to pay close to 6% higher tariffs for basic services, if a new proposal by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is accepted. TRAI has recommended that a flat 8% adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charge should be levied on all internet service providers (ISPs), as well as all holders of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, which includes 4G players such as Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
However, for BWA license holders who have not yet rolled out services, TRAI has proposed to levy a presumptive AGR of 5% of sum of the total bid amount by the spectrum holder for the respective service area where they hold BWA spectrum, as applicable to the licensees who obtained spectrum in the auctions conducted in November 2012 and March 2013.
The recommendation will now be sent to the Department of Telecom (DoT), which will then pass it on to the Telecom Commission for final passing.
This shows the government has not got its priorities right, especially given the tax holidays they have provided in other areas of public interest. This reccomendation if passed in its current form, will lead to slowdown in broadband penetration, as it will considerably shoot up cost of operations for ISPs. They will pass it on to their consumers, which, depending on their tariff plan, could be an increase of close to 5-6%."
BWA players who won spectrum in the 2010 auctions include Bharti Airtel, Qualcomm, Infotel, Augere, Aircel and Tikona. Out of these players, only Bharti Airtel has so far rolled out BWA services in the form of 4G, and has bought out Qualcomm's BWA spectrum as well. Reliance Jio, which bought Infotel's spectrum, is expected to roll out 4G services by September.
This, TRAI believes, will hep the government plug loss of revenues accruing to it from ISPs and BWA spectrum holders who have yet not rolled out services, despite obtaining the spectrum in 2010.
This comes at a time when broadband players are already losing revenues to mobile operators who are engaged in a massive data tariff war – and hence such a step could further hurt their profitability.
India's broadband subscribers at the end of February 2014 were 58 million, while total mobile consumers were 903.36 million.
Read Full Here
