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Tag: AGR

  • Don’t levy spectrum usage charges as percentage of AGR: TRAI

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The minimum presumptive Adjusted Gross Revenue should not be made applicable to ISP licensees, and the spectrum usage charges should not be levied as percentage of AGR and existing formula-based mechanism of charging SUC should continue as also the existing system of payment of SUC charges on an annual basis by ISP licensees.

    Following a request from the DoT, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had issued a consultation paper on “Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) and Presumptive-Adjusted Gross Revenue for Internet Service Providers and Commercial Very Small Aperture Terminal Service Providers” on 19 August 2016.

    Apart from written comments and counter comments, an Open House Discussion was held on 19 January 2017 with the stakeholders. TRAI’s recommendations were based on the analysis of the comments received from the stakeholders and its own analysis.

    The interest for delayed payment of SUC by ISP licensees, TRAI recommends, should be two per cent above the SBI PLR rate existing on the beginning of the relevant financial year, and there should be no requirement of FBG for ISP licensee in respect of formula-based SUC payable.

    The minimum presumptive AGR should not be made applicable to commercial VSAT license and the SUC should not be more than one per cent of AGR irrespective of the data rate.

    The Department of Telecom should put in place a comprehensive, integrated on-line system that acts as a single window clearance for the allocation/ clearances/issuance for approval/ clearance / issue of No Objection Certificates and other permissions to the licensees of spectrum,

    In its Recommendations on “Spectrum Usage Charges and Presumptive Adjusted Gross Revenue for Internet Service Providers and Commercial Very Small Aperture Terminal Service Providers”, TRAI has said DoT should make arrangement to accept online payment of financial levies / dues such as Licence Fee, Spectrum Usage Charges and other fees that are paid by the licensees for obtaining licence/ approval/ clearance / issue of No Objection Certificates from DoT.

    The regulator has said that the existing system of spectrum assignment on location/link-by-link basis on administrative basis to ISP licensees in the specified bands (viz 2.7 GHz, 3.3 GHz, 5.7 GHz and 10.5 GHz) should continue.

    DoT may take up with the Department of Space to evolve a system where the VSAT licensees are not made to run from pillar to post to get their services activated.

    The clock should start from the day the bandwidth is allotted by DoS and DoT should allot frequency within three months of allotment of spectrum by DoS. The two departments may also explore the possibility of implementing an on-line application for automating the whole process to bring in transparency.

    DoT had sought TRAI’s recommendations in terms of clause 11(1) of TRAI Act 1997 (as amended), on :

    (A) ISP  license

    (i)    Rates for  SUC;
    (ii)   Percentage of AGR including minimum AGR;
    (iii)  Allied issues like schedule of payment, charging of interest, penalty and Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG)

    (B) Commercial VSAT license

    (i)  Floor level (minimum) AGR, based       on the amount of spectrum held by commercial VSAT operators.

  • Broadband rose 8.3 per cent till June 16; teledensity fell in urban, hike in rural

    Broadband rose 8.3 per cent till June 16; teledensity fell in urban, hike in rural

    MUMBAI: The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,058.86 million at the end of Mar-16 to 1,059.86 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a growth of 0.09% over the previous quarter. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 5.25% over the same quarter of last year. The overall Teledensity in India declined from 83.36 as on 31 March, 2016 to 83.20 as on 30 June, 2016, according to TRAI statistics.

    Trends in Telephone subscribers and Teledensity in India: Subscription in Urban Areas declined from 609.69 million at the end of Mar-16 to 609.45 million at the end of Jun-16, and Urban Teledensity also declined from 154.01 to 153.22. However, Rural subscription increased from 449.17 million to 450.41 million and Rural Teledensity also increased from 51.37 to 51.41 during the same period.

    Of the total subscription, the share of Rural subscription increased from 42.42% at the end of Mar-16 to 42.50% at the end of Jun-16.

    Composition of Telephone Subscribers: With a net addition of 1.49 million subscribers during the quarter, total wireless (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base increased from 1,033.63 million at the end of Mar-16 to 1,035.12 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a growth rate of 0.14% over the previous quarter. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rate of wireless subscribers for Jun-16 is 5.54%.

    Wireless Tele-density declined from 81.38 at the end of Mar-16 to 81.26 at the end of Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Wireline subscriber base further declined from 25.22 million at the end of Mar-16 to 24.74 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a quarterly decline rate of 1.90%. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) decline rate in wireline subscribers for Jun-16 is 5.38%.

    Wireline Teledensity declined from 1.99 at the end of Mar-16 to 1.94 at the end of Jun-16.

    Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 342.65 million at the end of Mar-16 to 350.48 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a quarterly growth rate of 2.28%. Out of 350.48 million, Wired Internet subscribers are 20.76 million and Wireless Internet subscribers are 329.72 million. Composition of internet subscription.

    The Internet subscriber base of 350.48 million at the end of Jun- 16 comprises Broadband Internet subscriber base of 162.06 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 188.42
    million.

    The broadband Internet subscriber base grew by 8.22% from 149.75 million at the end of Mar-16 to 162.06 million at the end of Jun-16. On the other hand, the narrowband Internet subscriber
    base declined by 2.32% from 192.90 million at the end of Mar-16 to 188.42 million at the end of Jun-16.

    Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM service increased by 0.96%, from `125 in QE Mar-16 to `126 in QE Jun-16. Monthly ARPU for GSM service grew by 0.09% on Y-O-Y in this
    quarter, according to TRAI statistics.

    Prepaid ARPU for GSM service per month increased from `107 in QE Mar-16 to `108 in QE Jun-16, and Postpaid ARPU per month increased from `488 in QE Mar-16 to `495 in QE Jun-16.

    On an all India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month for GSM service declined by 1.07% from 381 for QE Mar-16 to 377 in QE Jun-16.

    Prepaid MOU per subscriber for GSM service declined from 356 in QE Mar-16 to 351 in QE Jun-16, and postpaid MOU declined from 892 in QE Mar-16 to 889 in QE Jun-16.

    Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 4.86%, from `103.50 in QE Mar-16 to `98.51 in QE Jun-16. Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 7.95% on Y-O-Y
    basis in this quarter.

    The total MOU per subscriber per month for CDMA full mobility service declined by 12.54%, from 260 in QE Mar-16 to 228 in QE Jun-16. The outgoing MOUs declined from 150 in QE Mar-16 to
    130 in QE Jun-16, and incoming MOUs also declined from 110 in QE Mar-16 to 98 in QE Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Gross Revenue (GR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the QE Jun-16 has been `73,344 Crore and `53,383 Crore respectively. GR and AGR increased by 7.33% and 10.34% respectively in QE Jun-16 as compared to previous quarter.

    The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth in GR and AGR over the same quarter in last year has been 12.79% and 13.26% respectively.

    Pass-through charges increased from `19,956 Crore in Q.E. Mar- 16 to `19,961 in Q.E. Jun-16. The quarterly and the year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rates of pass-through charges for QE Jun-16 are 0.03% and 11.54% respectively.

    The License Fee increased from `3,872 Crore for the QE Mar-16 to `4,314 Crore for the QE Jun-16. The quarterly and the year-onyear (Y-O-Y) growth rates of license fee are 11.43% and 14.05%
    respectively in this quarter.

    Access services contributed 83.84% of the total Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom services. In Access services, Gross Revenue (GR), Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR), License Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges(SUC) increased by 9.20%, 12.21%, 13.55% and 12.42% respectively whereas, Pass Through Charges declined by 0.67% in QE Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for Access Services based on AGR increased from `126.91 in QE Mar-16 to `140.88 in QE Jun-16.

  • Broadband rose 8.3 per cent till June 16; teledensity fell in urban, hike in rural

    Broadband rose 8.3 per cent till June 16; teledensity fell in urban, hike in rural

    MUMBAI: The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,058.86 million at the end of Mar-16 to 1,059.86 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a growth of 0.09% over the previous quarter. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 5.25% over the same quarter of last year. The overall Teledensity in India declined from 83.36 as on 31 March, 2016 to 83.20 as on 30 June, 2016, according to TRAI statistics.

    Trends in Telephone subscribers and Teledensity in India: Subscription in Urban Areas declined from 609.69 million at the end of Mar-16 to 609.45 million at the end of Jun-16, and Urban Teledensity also declined from 154.01 to 153.22. However, Rural subscription increased from 449.17 million to 450.41 million and Rural Teledensity also increased from 51.37 to 51.41 during the same period.

    Of the total subscription, the share of Rural subscription increased from 42.42% at the end of Mar-16 to 42.50% at the end of Jun-16.

    Composition of Telephone Subscribers: With a net addition of 1.49 million subscribers during the quarter, total wireless (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base increased from 1,033.63 million at the end of Mar-16 to 1,035.12 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a growth rate of 0.14% over the previous quarter. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rate of wireless subscribers for Jun-16 is 5.54%.

    Wireless Tele-density declined from 81.38 at the end of Mar-16 to 81.26 at the end of Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Wireline subscriber base further declined from 25.22 million at the end of Mar-16 to 24.74 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a quarterly decline rate of 1.90%. The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) decline rate in wireline subscribers for Jun-16 is 5.38%.

    Wireline Teledensity declined from 1.99 at the end of Mar-16 to 1.94 at the end of Jun-16.

    Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 342.65 million at the end of Mar-16 to 350.48 million at the end of Jun-16, registering a quarterly growth rate of 2.28%. Out of 350.48 million, Wired Internet subscribers are 20.76 million and Wireless Internet subscribers are 329.72 million. Composition of internet subscription.

    The Internet subscriber base of 350.48 million at the end of Jun- 16 comprises Broadband Internet subscriber base of 162.06 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 188.42
    million.

    The broadband Internet subscriber base grew by 8.22% from 149.75 million at the end of Mar-16 to 162.06 million at the end of Jun-16. On the other hand, the narrowband Internet subscriber
    base declined by 2.32% from 192.90 million at the end of Mar-16 to 188.42 million at the end of Jun-16.

    Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM service increased by 0.96%, from `125 in QE Mar-16 to `126 in QE Jun-16. Monthly ARPU for GSM service grew by 0.09% on Y-O-Y in this
    quarter, according to TRAI statistics.

    Prepaid ARPU for GSM service per month increased from `107 in QE Mar-16 to `108 in QE Jun-16, and Postpaid ARPU per month increased from `488 in QE Mar-16 to `495 in QE Jun-16.

    On an all India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month for GSM service declined by 1.07% from 381 for QE Mar-16 to 377 in QE Jun-16.

    Prepaid MOU per subscriber for GSM service declined from 356 in QE Mar-16 to 351 in QE Jun-16, and postpaid MOU declined from 892 in QE Mar-16 to 889 in QE Jun-16.

    Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 4.86%, from `103.50 in QE Mar-16 to `98.51 in QE Jun-16. Monthly ARPU for CDMA full mobility service declined by 7.95% on Y-O-Y
    basis in this quarter.

    The total MOU per subscriber per month for CDMA full mobility service declined by 12.54%, from 260 in QE Mar-16 to 228 in QE Jun-16. The outgoing MOUs declined from 150 in QE Mar-16 to
    130 in QE Jun-16, and incoming MOUs also declined from 110 in QE Mar-16 to 98 in QE Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Gross Revenue (GR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the QE Jun-16 has been `73,344 Crore and `53,383 Crore respectively. GR and AGR increased by 7.33% and 10.34% respectively in QE Jun-16 as compared to previous quarter.

    The year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth in GR and AGR over the same quarter in last year has been 12.79% and 13.26% respectively.

    Pass-through charges increased from `19,956 Crore in Q.E. Mar- 16 to `19,961 in Q.E. Jun-16. The quarterly and the year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rates of pass-through charges for QE Jun-16 are 0.03% and 11.54% respectively.

    The License Fee increased from `3,872 Crore for the QE Mar-16 to `4,314 Crore for the QE Jun-16. The quarterly and the year-onyear (Y-O-Y) growth rates of license fee are 11.43% and 14.05%
    respectively in this quarter.

    Access services contributed 83.84% of the total Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom services. In Access services, Gross Revenue (GR), Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR), License Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges(SUC) increased by 9.20%, 12.21%, 13.55% and 12.42% respectively whereas, Pass Through Charges declined by 0.67% in QE Jun-16, according to TRAI statistics.

    Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for Access Services based on AGR increased from `126.91 in QE Mar-16 to `140.88 in QE Jun-16.

  • TRAI extends dates for views on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    TRAI extends dates for views on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has extended the dates for getting views on minimum presumptive AGR for Spectrum and VSAT licenses.

    A release today said comments can be sent on 13 October with countercomments if any by 27 October 2016.Following a query by the Department of Telecom on25 June 2016, TRAI had asked stakeholdersif spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrativebasis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands.

    In the consultation paper issued following the DoT letter,the regulator has discussed issues relating to minimum presumptive AGR for ISPlicenses and VSAT licenses and other issues raised by DoT in its reference of25 June 2014, and 15 May 2015. The information/clarifications were furnished toDoT in the letter of 2 March 2016.

    The DoT had soughtTRAI’s recommendations in terms of clause 11(1) of TRAI Act 1997 (as amended)on:

    (A) ISP license (i) Rates for SUC; (ii) Percentage of AGR including minimum AGR; (iii) Allied issues like schedule of payment, charging ofinterest, penalty and Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG).

    (B) Commercial VSAT license (i) Floor level (minimum) AGR, based on the amount ofspectrum held by commercial VSAT operators. The Authority said in 2014 it had suo motu undertaken theexercise of review of definition of revenue base (AGR) for the reckoning oflicence fee (LF) and  spectrum usage charges (SUC).

    The Consultation Paper wasissued on 31st July 2014 and Recommendations on 6 January 2015. The Recommendationsalong with other issues also contain recommendations on minimum presumptiveAGR. In the Recommendations of 6 January 2015, the Authority hadrecommended that minimum presumptive AGR for the purpose of LF and SUC should notbe made applicable for any licenses granted by the Government for providingtelecom services.

    Paper available on trai.gov.in

    Also read

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-issues-consultation-paper-on-agr-issues-relating-to-spectrum-160819

     

  • TRAI extends dates for views on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    TRAI extends dates for views on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has extended the dates for getting views on minimum presumptive AGR for Spectrum and VSAT licenses.

    A release today said comments can be sent on 13 October with countercomments if any by 27 October 2016.Following a query by the Department of Telecom on25 June 2016, TRAI had asked stakeholdersif spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrativebasis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands.

    In the consultation paper issued following the DoT letter,the regulator has discussed issues relating to minimum presumptive AGR for ISPlicenses and VSAT licenses and other issues raised by DoT in its reference of25 June 2014, and 15 May 2015. The information/clarifications were furnished toDoT in the letter of 2 March 2016.

    The DoT had soughtTRAI’s recommendations in terms of clause 11(1) of TRAI Act 1997 (as amended)on:

    (A) ISP license (i) Rates for SUC; (ii) Percentage of AGR including minimum AGR; (iii) Allied issues like schedule of payment, charging ofinterest, penalty and Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG).

    (B) Commercial VSAT license (i) Floor level (minimum) AGR, based on the amount ofspectrum held by commercial VSAT operators. The Authority said in 2014 it had suo motu undertaken theexercise of review of definition of revenue base (AGR) for the reckoning oflicence fee (LF) and  spectrum usage charges (SUC).

    The Consultation Paper wasissued on 31st July 2014 and Recommendations on 6 January 2015. The Recommendationsalong with other issues also contain recommendations on minimum presumptiveAGR. In the Recommendations of 6 January 2015, the Authority hadrecommended that minimum presumptive AGR for the purpose of LF and SUC should notbe made applicable for any licenses granted by the Government for providingtelecom services.

    Paper available on trai.gov.in

    Also read

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-issues-consultation-paper-on-agr-issues-relating-to-spectrum-160819

     

  • TRAI issues consultation paper on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    TRAI issues consultation paper on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    NEW DELHI: Following a query by the Department of Telecom on 25 Jun e 2016, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked stakeholders if spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrative basis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands.

    In a new consultation paper issued following the DoT letter, the regulator has discussed issues relating to minimum presumptive AGR for ISP licenses and VSAT licenses and other issues raised by DoT in its reference of 25 June 2014, and 15 May 2015. The information/clarifications were furnished to DoT in the letter of 2 March 2016.

    Stakeholders have been asked to respond by 19 September 2016 with counter-comments if any by 3 October 2016.

    The DoT had sought TRAI’s recommendations in terms of clause 11(1) of TRAI Act 1997 (as amended) on:

    (A) ISP license

    (i) Rates for SUC;

    (ii) Percentage of AGR including minimum AGR;

    (iii) Allied issues like schedule of payment, charging of interest, penalty and Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG).

    (B) Commercial VSAT license

    (i) Floor level (minimum) AGR, based on the amount of spectrum held by commercial VSAT operators.

    The Authority said in 2014 it had suo motu undertaken the exercise of review of definition of revenue base (AGR) for the reckoning of licence fee (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC). The Consultation Paper was issued on 31st July 2014 and Recommendations on 6 January 2015. The Recommendations along with other issues also contain recommendations on minimum presumptive AGR.

    In the Recommendations of 6 January 2015, the Authority had recommended that minimum presumptive AGR for the purpose of LF and SUC should not be made applicable for any licenses granted by the Government for providing telecom services. The recommendation was based on the fact that in the new licensing regime, spectrum is allocated through an auction process and TSPs are required to pay market-determined prices which can generally be expected to be sufficient motivation to licensees to start the commercial operations. Further the respective licence agreements include provisions on rollout obligations to be met by the licensee within a specified time frame, failing which, there are provisions for penalty (including prospects of cancellation of assigned spectrum).

    Therefore, it said the rationale for imposition of levies based on presumptive AGR does not hold good. However as the DoT letter of 25 June 2014 contains specific reference on minimum presumptive AGR in respect of ISP license and VSAT license, the same has been discussed afresh
    Some of the questions asked by TRAI are:

    Q1: Should the spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrative basis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands. If not, please suggest alternate assignment mechanism.

    Q2: Should minimum presumptive AGR be introduced in ISP license for the purpose of charging SUC? If yes, what should be the value of minimum presumptive AGR and basis for its computation?

    Q3: Is there a need to introduce SUC based on percentage of AGR for ISPs or should the existing formula based spectrum charges continue? Please give justification while suggesting a particular method of charging SUC.

    Q4: If AGR based SUC is introduced, whether the percentage of AGR should be uniform for all ISP licenses or should it be different, based on revenue/spectrum-holding/any other suitable criteria?

    Q5: What mechanism should be devised for ISP licensees to identify revenue generated from use of spectrum and revenue generated without use of spectrum?

    Q6: In case minimum presumptive AGR is prescribed for the ISP license, what percentage should be applied on minimum presumptive AGR to compute SUC?

    Q7: In case, Formula based spectrum charging mechanism in ISP license is to be continued, do you feel any changes are required in the formula being currently used that was specified by DoT in March 2012? If yes, suggest the alternate formula. Please give detailed justification.

    Q8: Do you propose any change in existing schedule of payment of spectrum related charges in the ISP license agreement?

    Q9: Should a separate regime of interest rates for delayed payment of royalty for the use of spectrum be fixed in ISP license or should it be the same to the prevailing interest rates for delayed payment of license fee/ SUC for other licensed telecom services?

    Q10: Should separate financial bank guarantee or single financial bank guarantee be submitted by the ISP licensee covering LF payable, fees/charges/royalties for the use of spectrum and other dues (not otherwise securitized)? If yes, what should be the amount of such financial bank guarantee in either case?

    Q11: Is there a need to specify minimum presumptive AGR for commercial CUG VSAT license for the purpose of charging SUC? If yes, what should be the value of minimum presumptive AGR and basis for its computation?

    Q12: Should the SUC applicable to commercial VSAT services be reviewed? If yes, what should be the rate of SUC to be charged? Please give your view on this with justification.

  • TRAI issues consultation paper on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    TRAI issues consultation paper on AGR issues relating to Spectrum

    NEW DELHI: Following a query by the Department of Telecom on 25 Jun e 2016, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked stakeholders if spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrative basis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands.

    In a new consultation paper issued following the DoT letter, the regulator has discussed issues relating to minimum presumptive AGR for ISP licenses and VSAT licenses and other issues raised by DoT in its reference of 25 June 2014, and 15 May 2015. The information/clarifications were furnished to DoT in the letter of 2 March 2016.

    Stakeholders have been asked to respond by 19 September 2016 with counter-comments if any by 3 October 2016.

    The DoT had sought TRAI’s recommendations in terms of clause 11(1) of TRAI Act 1997 (as amended) on:

    (A) ISP license

    (i) Rates for SUC;

    (ii) Percentage of AGR including minimum AGR;

    (iii) Allied issues like schedule of payment, charging of interest, penalty and Financial Bank Guarantee (FBG).

    (B) Commercial VSAT license

    (i) Floor level (minimum) AGR, based on the amount of spectrum held by commercial VSAT operators.

    The Authority said in 2014 it had suo motu undertaken the exercise of review of definition of revenue base (AGR) for the reckoning of licence fee (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC). The Consultation Paper was issued on 31st July 2014 and Recommendations on 6 January 2015. The Recommendations along with other issues also contain recommendations on minimum presumptive AGR.

    In the Recommendations of 6 January 2015, the Authority had recommended that minimum presumptive AGR for the purpose of LF and SUC should not be made applicable for any licenses granted by the Government for providing telecom services. The recommendation was based on the fact that in the new licensing regime, spectrum is allocated through an auction process and TSPs are required to pay market-determined prices which can generally be expected to be sufficient motivation to licensees to start the commercial operations. Further the respective licence agreements include provisions on rollout obligations to be met by the licensee within a specified time frame, failing which, there are provisions for penalty (including prospects of cancellation of assigned spectrum).

    Therefore, it said the rationale for imposition of levies based on presumptive AGR does not hold good. However as the DoT letter of 25 June 2014 contains specific reference on minimum presumptive AGR in respect of ISP license and VSAT license, the same has been discussed afresh
    Some of the questions asked by TRAI are:

    Q1: Should the spectrum assignment on location basis/link-by-link basis on administrative basis to ISPs, be continued in the specified bands. If not, please suggest alternate assignment mechanism.

    Q2: Should minimum presumptive AGR be introduced in ISP license for the purpose of charging SUC? If yes, what should be the value of minimum presumptive AGR and basis for its computation?

    Q3: Is there a need to introduce SUC based on percentage of AGR for ISPs or should the existing formula based spectrum charges continue? Please give justification while suggesting a particular method of charging SUC.

    Q4: If AGR based SUC is introduced, whether the percentage of AGR should be uniform for all ISP licenses or should it be different, based on revenue/spectrum-holding/any other suitable criteria?

    Q5: What mechanism should be devised for ISP licensees to identify revenue generated from use of spectrum and revenue generated without use of spectrum?

    Q6: In case minimum presumptive AGR is prescribed for the ISP license, what percentage should be applied on minimum presumptive AGR to compute SUC?

    Q7: In case, Formula based spectrum charging mechanism in ISP license is to be continued, do you feel any changes are required in the formula being currently used that was specified by DoT in March 2012? If yes, suggest the alternate formula. Please give detailed justification.

    Q8: Do you propose any change in existing schedule of payment of spectrum related charges in the ISP license agreement?

    Q9: Should a separate regime of interest rates for delayed payment of royalty for the use of spectrum be fixed in ISP license or should it be the same to the prevailing interest rates for delayed payment of license fee/ SUC for other licensed telecom services?

    Q10: Should separate financial bank guarantee or single financial bank guarantee be submitted by the ISP licensee covering LF payable, fees/charges/royalties for the use of spectrum and other dues (not otherwise securitized)? If yes, what should be the amount of such financial bank guarantee in either case?

    Q11: Is there a need to specify minimum presumptive AGR for commercial CUG VSAT license for the purpose of charging SUC? If yes, what should be the value of minimum presumptive AGR and basis for its computation?

    Q12: Should the SUC applicable to commercial VSAT services be reviewed? If yes, what should be the rate of SUC to be charged? Please give your view on this with justification.

  • AIDCF submits recommendations to I&B; asks for removal of 8% AGR on cable broadband

    AIDCF submits recommendations to I&B; asks for removal of 8% AGR on cable broadband

    MUMBAI: Broadband is the way forward for multi system operators (MSOs) who are looking at improving their average revenue per user (ARPU). Understanding the pain areas of the operators who are looking at expanding their broadband base, the newly formed MSO association- All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), recently met the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) on the issue of 8 per cent AGR being charged on MSOs offering broadband services.

     

    During the meeting a five point recommendation was submitted to the Ministry, which later will be submitted to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The recommendation reads:

     

    1)      Remove the 8 per cent AGR applicable for MSOs who are offering broadband services.

     

    2)      It has requested the Government to support MSOs for right of way and protection of infrastructure laid on ground. MSOs offering broadband services feel that the pole charges levied by some states are huge. Also, to set up the broadband service, expensive equipment needs to be installed on streets and poles. According to AIDCF, as of now, there are no rules per se, to protect the equipment which costs anywhere between Rs 7000 to Rs 10,000. The association, through the recommendation, is asking the Government to protect the expensive equipment, so that the MSOs can start installing the infrastructure.

     

    3)      The association has asked the Government to rationalise import duties on network equipment. While the Government has plans for ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’, there are still certain infrastructure related products which are not being manufactured in the country, and hence have to be imported. The association has thus asked the Government to rationalise the import duties being charged on these goods, until someone from the country starts manufacturing them.

     

    4)      It has requested the Government, like in the case of Telecom, to provide infrastructure status to the cable broadband network. With the infrastructure status, MSOs will become eligible for easy bank financing, in addition to overseas fund raising to expand their broadband base.

               

    5)      Allow use of Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund for wireline network rollout in the country.

     

  • TRAI extends date for stakeholders’ views on AGR and on licensing of NSOs and SDOs

    TRAI extends date for stakeholders’ views on AGR and on licensing of NSOs and SDOs

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has extended till 7 October the date for written submissions on a pre-consultation paper on ‘delinking of license for networks from delivery of services by way of virtual network operators’.

     

    In this paper, stakeholders have been asked by the TRAI to give their views on their definition of adjusted gross revenue.

     

    The paper is on what the model of agreement is between network service operator (NSO) license and service delivery (SDO) operator license created under the draft National Telecom Policy 2011 will be.

     

    It has asked if this would be left to the market or regulated like mandating NSOs to provide services to SDO licensees and mandating charges etc.

     

    In its policy, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had said that NSOs would be licensed to set up and maintain converged networks capable of delivering various types of services such as voice, data, video, broadcast, IPTV, VAS etc in a non-exclusive and non-discriminatory manner.

     

    SDOs would be licensed to deliver the services such as teleservices (voice, data, video), internet/broadband, broadcast services, IPTV, VAS and content delivery services etc.

     

    In its latest reference to TRAI, the DoT has envisaged the entry of virtual network operators (VNOs) for delivery of services by delinking them from licensing of networks.

     

    VNOs are SDO licensees who do not own the underlying network(s) but rely on the network and support of the infrastructure providers, telecommunications operators (who are owner(s) of towers, radio access networks, spectrum etc) for providing telecom services to end users/customers. As these operators do not have their own networks, they are termed as VNOs. They can provide any telecom service being provided by network providers viz teleservices (voice, data, video), internet/broadband, IPTV, VAS, content delivery services etc. The most popular among VNOs are mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).

     

    India is a diverse country, large in size and had very poor telecom networks when the Government decided to open the sector to private participation. Therefore, in order to ensure development and proliferation of telecom infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country, the Government took a conscious decision that all TSPs would have their own network for providing services to their customers. To meet this end, each TSP was mandated to comply with certain roll-out obligations and even sharing of infrastructure was not permitted initially. To encourage tower sharing amongst operators, the Government initiated a project ‘Mobile Operator Shared Tower (MOST)’ in March 2006, and later on, in April 2008 sharing of active infrastructure, except spectrum, was also permitted.

     

    At present, most access providers are integrated operators who have their own infrastructure for both access and long distance services. Having already established their networks, the issue to deliberate upon is whether delinking the network from service delivery will have any effect on the working of these TSPs. The new licence regime has come into existence only about a year back.

     

    In the proposed licencing framework, based on the VNO model, one issue could be whether the existing TSPs, will have to obtain an NSO licence or both NSO and SDO licences on migration to the new licensing regime.

     

    A linked issue for deliberation will be about the necessity of changing the licensing regime at all, at such a short interval since unified licencing (UL) was introduced.

     

    At present, there are 7-13 licensees in various service areas. Therefore, another issue for deliberation could be about the need for introduction of more competition in the form of VNOs.

     

    Apart from access services, for other services like V-SAT, PMRTS/CMRTS, GMPCS, it needs to be deliberated whether any business case/revenue potential exists for a standalone virtual operator for these services.

     

    In India, the TSPs have infrastructure, including spectrum, which is just about sufficient to cater to their own requirements. Would they really be able to spare their infrastructure for new SDOs, TRAI wants to know.

     

    It can also be deliberated whether the reference of DoT envisaged an entirely new licensing regime or could be considered to mean that a chapter may be added to the existing UL for facilitating licenses to the VNO.

  • TRAI extends deadline to respond to consultation paper on AGR

    TRAI extends deadline to respond to consultation paper on AGR

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has given a fresh lease of life to stakeholders to respond to its consultation paper on ‘Definition of Revenue Base (AGR) for the Reckoning of Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges.’

     

    The extension has come after some stakeholders  requested for additional time of two weeks to complete the discussions among themselves to develop a unified approach by resolving various contentious issues.

     

    The  Authority has  considered their request and   decided  to  extend the  last date for  submission of  written comments to  15 September and   for counter  comments,  if  any,   to  22 September. TRAI has also clarified that there is no change in the date of the Open House Discussion on the consultation paper and will be held on 1 October in New Delhi.  

     

    It can be noted that the Authority had issued the consultation paper on  ‘Definition of Revenue Base  (AGR) for the  Reckoning of Licence  Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges’ on 31 July 2014 inviting comments  by  1 September and counter-comments by  8 September.