Speaking at the meeting of a sub-committee of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, they said they might even have to close down operations, as the license of rural telecom won´t help them attract new investors.[break]
They have also sought amendment to policies governing frequency and license distribution that bars them from upgrading into a GSM operator.
The sub-committee had summoned officials of rural telecom operators STM Sanchar and Smart Telecom for discussion on the day.
Sunil Jakibanja, country manager of STM Sanchar, said rural telecom operators need level playing filed not only in terms of licensing fee but also on resources and jurisdiction.
Members of the sub-committee sought opinion of officials of both the operators on frequency auctioning.
Responding to the lawmakers, Jakibanja said rural telecom operators will suffer it frequencies are auctioned off. He even suggested the sub-committee to allocate required frequencies to the operators and auction off the remaining.
Subash Karmacharya, CEO of Smart Telecom, said they were facing problems in service expansion, as operating service in rural areas is not profitable. “We might have to close down our operation if we failed to gat GSM license,” he added.
Rural telecom operators have also asked the government to recognize their contribution in rural sector and to provide them special incentives so that they can continue their operation.
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