Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan is a magnanimous man. Check with pager companies who will tell you how hard he’s trying to waive the Rs 445 crore they owe to the Government ever since cellphone companies forced them to switch off. Then speak to cellphone companies who will tell you how Mahajan plans to reduce their licence fees because of the pressure they face from Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) service providers like MTNL and BSNL. And if you still have doubts, go to MTNL and BSNL who again will assure you that Mahajan plans to reduce their licence fees as well! What he wants to ring in Pager companies • Licence fee is 10% of revenue. Proposal to reduce it to 5% and waive Rs 445 cr due to Govt—rejected by Cabinet Cellphone companies • In 1999, fixed licence fee was changed to fee based on revenue-sharing: 12% of revenue in metros, 10%, 8% in smaller markets. Mahajan’s plan: cut fee to 8-6.5% of revenue. Loss per year to Govt: Rs 190 crore. For BSNL, MTNL, VSNL loss: Rs 850 cr All this despite the fact that the Cabinet this week shot down his package for pager companies saying relief could not be granted in retrospect from 1995. But the Minister doesn’t give up. In fact, as early as September, Mahajan’s generosity was reflected in a formal note by Telecom Secretary Vinod Vaish to his department. The note, a copy of which is with The Sunday Express, asks the DoT ‘‘to examine the entire licence fee regime,’’ as several ‘‘representations have been received from telecom operators regarding the heavy burden imposed on them by way of licence fee based on revenue-sharing.’’ In less than a fortnight, the DoT got back with serious objections: ‘‘There appears to be no case for reviewing the licence fee burden’’ and ‘‘any review should take place only after the expiry of the present duration of the licences granted i.e. on completion of full 20 years of the licences.’’ This was because the Government’s National Telecom Policy in 1999 had already bailed out private firms in basic and cellular telephony by shifting them from a fixed licence fee to a more benevolent revenue-sharing scheme. And said that henceforth, all agreements should be ‘‘sacrosanct.’’ In fact, the TRAI itself had ruled that ‘‘stage has been reached when market forces can effectively regulate cellular tariff.’’ But Mahajan is not perturbed. As for his plan to reduce licence fees for cellphone operators, he said: ‘‘There is no hurry. When we do it, we will announce it openly.’’ When he was asked if the TRAI’s opinion would be sought on cellular-fee reduction, Mahajan said it might not ‘‘strictly be necessary’’ and would be examined when it was time for a decision. The cost of Mahajan’s generosity? A staggering Rs 1,485 crore. In subsequent years, it would still be Rs 1,040 crore each year. A gap Arun Shourie will have to sell two PSUs the size of BALCO every year to bridge. The cellphone companies are complaining of losses hoping for more sops. Whining apart, not one single corporate has moved out owing to dwindling revenue. The so-called adverse Delhi and Mumbai circles both saw fourth operators launch their mobile service recently.
