Telecom operators paid Rs 1.48b in advance

Telecom companies have made advance payments amounting to Rs 1.48 billion to the government as frequency fee under the new spectrum policy, said the Nepal Te l e c o m m u• i c a t i o• s Authority (NTA). The charge is for spectrum being used by them for their 2G, 3G, WiMax, VSAT and satellite phone services. The Telecommunications Radio Frequency Distribution and Pricing Policy 2012, which was introduced last year, requires telecom companies to pay for 3G, WiMax, and VSAT spectrum by the first three months (mid-October) of each fiscal year. This is the first time that the government is collecting the frequency fee in advance. The policy has fixed the minimum, additional and maximum frequency for service operation, and telecom companies have to pay up front for the additional and maximum frequency assigned. The charges for other frequencies — minimum spectrum and microwave airwaves — have to be paid within the first six months of each fiscal year based on the previous year’s income. “Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell paid Rs 746.4 million and Rs 441.7 million respectively as frequency fee,” said Ambar Sthapit, deputy director of the NTA. He added that United Telecom Limited paid Rs 45 million, Smart Telecom Rs 126 million and Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST) Rs 124.4 million. NST has been using additional frequency 9 MHz over the government allocated minimum airwave. However, CG Communications (formerly STM Telecom Sanchar), which was supposed to pay Rs 19.2 million up front as spectrum fee for additional spectrum, has not done so. Sthapit said that the company would be fined 2 percent of the fee for advance spectrum. He added that if the company dœs not pay the fee plus the fine within six months, the NTA could cancel the assigned spectrum. According to the NTA, NT has been using additional and maximum frequency in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, and Ncell has been using additional spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for its GSM mobile service. NTA officials said that the charges for additional and maximum spectrum had been fixed at a higher rate to discourage hoarding. The distribution and pricing policy has fixed the charge for minimum frequency at 0.4 percent of the annual income. The government has fixed the minimum spectrum 2x6 MHz (in the 900 MHz band) and 2x9 MHz (in the 1800 MHz band) for mobile services. If a company uses additional 1 MHz in the 800/900 MHz band, it is required to pay Rs 6 million; and in the case of maximum spectrum, the fee is double (Rs 12 million) per MHz, said the NTA. NT and Ncell each paid Rs 240 million for the 2x10 MHz spectrum they are using for 3G service. NT, which is also the sole operator of WiMax service, paid Rs 120 million as frequency charge for this service, according to the NTA. The banking sector saw the addition of 4,914 new credit card holders as of mid-August this year telecoms frequency fee