The DoT will create a separate category of such licences
The VRS scheme for BSNL and MTNL will have a revenue impact of Rs 6,365 crore and Rs 2,120 crore respectively
Govt may spend Rs 8,000 crore on turnaround
Some experts say unless a service provider has robust backhaul spectrum, providing 5G services can become a challenge for the company
A flat levy may also lead to revenue loss to the government as it currently receives higher fees from the operators who bagged spectrum in the previous auctions
Auditor saw maximum high financial impact of Rs 520.79 cr on the govt exchequer due to non-withdrawal of spectrum from BSNL which had offered to surrender to avoid one-time spectrum charge
Under BharatNet government has enabled over 121,000 panchayats with optical fibre cable-based high speed broadband network
Source said a few meetings between DoT officials and telecom operators have already taken place but no final decision has been arrived at
The source adds DoT wishes to notify the rules by next month and call for applications from in-flight providers by end-October or early November
Move to help telcos plan their needs better
Lawyers representing govt point out that telcos, because of the large money they can save if they get a favourable judgement, prefer to fight till all legal options are exhausted
The government has issued revised demand-cum-show cause notices for Rs 30,776 crore to 6 telecom firms for under-reporting revenues in four fiscal's up to 2009-10, Parliament was informed today. "Department of Telecom revised and issued demand cum show cause notices to six telecom service providers for a total amount of Rs 30,776 crore (Rs 29,474 crore as licence fee and Rs 1,302 crore as spectrum usage charges), taking into account report No.4 of 2016 of C&AG; licence agreement and status of litigation for the four financial years..." Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. The four financial years are 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. "The definition of gross revenue and adjusted gross revenue was challenged by the private telecom service providers and now the matter is in Supreme Court of India. The Department is defending the case with all out efforts," Sinha said. As per last year's report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, ..
Telecom Dept undertook a slew of reforms in 2016 aimed at facilitating the ease of doing business
Manoj Sinha says that government has allowed the telecom companies to install towers on post offices buildings and government offices
At present, wi-fi services and phone calls are not allowed on flights flying over the Indian airspace
DoT move follows a Tripura High Court order in January that questioned its power to unilaterally impose a penalty
India's biggest telecom players Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm are amongst the seven firms in fray for the bidding
A customer's Aadhaar card and fingerprints will now be adequate to validate and activate new prepaid and postpaid connections
Trading till auction concludes
The PIL, referred to the deleterious effects of radiation emanating from mobile towers and cell phones