Tariffs to go up if telcos charged for spectrum: Sunil Mittal

Mobile phones are a powerful tool for social transformation in India and the telecom industry needs to maintain affordable tariffs, but rates will have to be raised if operators are made to pay extra for the spectrum, Bharti group chief Sunil Mittal has said.

"We will favour affordable service which should be viable for the industry. This has to be balanced," he said at the Mobile World Congress here.

Against the backdrop of Indian telecom industry passing through turbulent times, Mittal said it was a very powerful tool for social transformation and needed a balanced growth. "Who will gain if our business is shut down?"

About uncertainties over the pricing of spectrum, Mittal said, "We have been offering services with lower tariffs when we have not been charged for spectrum. Going ahead, if it [spectrum] is charged, we will also have to charge the customer".

Of late, there has been a debate over the need to charge extra for the spectrum that has been allocated to incumbents like Bharti.

Last month, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences of new telecom operators in the 2G spectrum allocation case and asked the government to follow the auction of natural resources to avoid arbitrariness.