NT Spokesperson Surendra Prasad Thike, who made a presentation at a sub-committee meeting of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), claimed that public-sector operators in South Asian countries have enjoyed certain incentives from the government to compete in the market and also to expand services in rural areas. [break]
"As NT has to expand network in rural areas as part of the government´s social obligations, we feel that our claim for incentives is genuine," he stated.
A sub-committee of PAC had summoned senior officials of NT on the day to question them mobile frequency allocation after the government lost billions of rupees in revenue due to haphazard distribution of mobile frequency.
In their deliberations, NT officials suggested the sub-committee members to instruct the government to fix the license and renewal fee on the basis of country´s reality rather than models practiced in developed countries.
Amarnath Singh, managing director of NT, said the license fee of Rs 210 million imposed on mobile operators for a period of 10 years is insufficient considering the revenue mobilized by the operators.
“But the license renewal fee of Rs 20 billion for the period of five years is very high,” he added.
Officials also suggested the government to levy spectrum fee to discourage spectrum hoarding.
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