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New Delhi: The government should reconsider the entire tax structure on the telecom industry<\/a> as India has the highest levies and taxes in India, top operators said today.
“We have spent 1000s of crores acquiring spectrum from the past auctions. It’s pointless to continue to pay SUC for such things, it is a legacy concept... the license fees need to be reduced as well and the overall GST rate structure also needs consideration,” Rahul Vatts, Chief Regulatory Officer, Bharti Airtel<\/a> said in a panel discussion during the second edition of ETTelecom Digital Telco virtual summit.
The recent steps by the government has eased the liquidity situation but still few issues remain, he said.
P Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer at Vi also echoed similar views on reduction of taxes and levies such as USOF.
“It would be great to have a reduction in the litigation by settling a lot of old legacy cases out of court, that's probably the best way forward for the sector….Also, we need to have adequate spectrum for all operators left in the country at reasonable payment terms and prices so that the investment goes into setting up of a network,” Balaji said.
Balaji also raised the issue of Right of Way (RoW) and called for fiberizing 85% of towers in the next 24 months for a good 5G rollout. “We can set the bold target of making the fiberized towers go from 35% to 85% in the next 24 months. RoW policy needs urgent intervention as many states are not yet aligned with it,” he said.
Airtel and Vi’s remarks came ahead of a planned 5G auction next year.
In November, Telecom regulator TRAI kicked off the consultation process for the auction of spectrum in various frequencies including 5G.
The government has already made a start by looking at the tactical aspect of the 5G spectrum and have tried to create an enabling atmosphere to roll out networks and enable 5G, Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said.