The government on Monday amended the Unified Access Service License (UASL) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS) licence.

This was done to incorporate the Cabinet’s nod for an increase in the number of instalments for payment of spectrum fees to 16 years, as well as for the revision in spectrum cap norms.

The Cabinet had on March 7 approved the Department of Telecommunications’ proposal to let operators opt for a one-time increase in instalments (maximum 16) to pay for spectrum acquired in auctions from 2012 to 2016.

The amendment is part of the relief measures approved by the Cabinet for the sector which is reeling under a debt of ₹7.87 lakh crore.

“These instalments are based upon the principle that the Net Present Value (NPV) of the ‘Payment Due’ is protected as enumerated in respective NIAs (Notice Inviting Applications) for auctions in the years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016,” the DoT said in its amendment.

For the sake of a level playing field among operators, the same spectrum cap shall be made applicable for all the telecom service providers in that licensed service area, it said, adding that the above spectrum caps may be revisited after the final acts of World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2019, to be held in Egypt.

“These amendments shall be part and parcel of the Unified Licence Agreement, and all others terms and conditions shall remain unchanged.

These amendments will come into force with immediate effect,” the DoT said.

The Telecom Department also approved removal of the intra-band cap of 50 per cent spectrum held by an operator in a circle, and instead allowed an operator to have not more than 50 per cent of all the sub-1GHz bands such as the 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz put together.

This will allow operators to hold 35 per cent of the total spectrum assigned in a circle against the current cap of 25 per cent.

However, there will be no change in the value and interest rates that telecom companies have to pay for the spectrum.

The total amount that telecom operators will pay for the spectrum will be higher by ₹74,446.01 crore till 2034-35 if they opt for more number of instalments.

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