The telecom industry has come out in support of new Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal for his observation that the sector should not be viewed as source of revenue for the Finance Ministry. "This sector is heavily taxed. We pay nearly 26 per cent of our revenues to the government in form of one tax or the other. The ministry is taking a different perception about the industry after few years. We are looking forward to work with him," Peter Martin, MD and CEO, Vodafone-Essar, said.
Vodafone alone would be paying Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) to the government this fiscal which includes levies as well as fees for 3G spectrum, he said.
Commenting on the present day debate on whether spectrum should be auctioned or not, Sibal had on Thursday said,
"We must ensure that the industry had enough money to invest in the sector. If price of spectrum is high then you (service providers) will not be able to provide low tariffs" Martin also raised the issue of level playing field.
There are some anomolies over spectrum usage fee charged from an ordinary operator vis-à-vis dual technology players.
A dual technology player with 4 MHz of spectrum each in CDMA and GSM technologies ends up paying far less charges to the government compared to a GSM operators holding 8 MHz of spectrum.
"This needs to be corrected to create a level playing field and the minister has assured to look into it," Martin said
adding that the government must come out with policy for distribution of spectrum in a transparent manner.
The GSM lobby Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) also said they were looking forward to working closely with the government for the growth of the sector.
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