The inter-ministerial panel, Telecom Commission is scheduled to meet on December 31 to discuss the annual fee that telecom operators are required to pay on spectrum held by them.
"
Telecom Commission will meet on December 31 to discuss spectrum usage charge," a
DoT official said.
The
spectrum usage charge, which is levied annually by government as percentage of revenue earned by telecom companies from telecom services, varies between 3 to 8 percent in case of mobile operators.
This annual fee is currently 1 percent for a firms with broadband wireless spectrum including
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) and Tikona.
TRAI has recommended bringing this fee to a uniform level of 3 percent of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
The view taken by the Telecom Commission will be placed before the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram which will decide on the spectrum usage charge.
It will be for the EGoM to move the Cabinet for a final decision on the SUC, sources said.
Mukesh Ambani-led RJIL has opposed TRAI's recommendation, while GSM industry body COAI has been supporting the suggestion of the telecom regulator.