IMG On Telcos

This will now be put up for approval by 'Alternative Mechanism' which is essentially a very small grouping of key Cabinet ministers, sources privy to the development said

The commission will meet again in two weeks once the IMG reverts with its response on these issues

The inter-ministerial group (IMG), which has proposed various measures to address the financial stress in telecom sector, has recommended conducting the spectrum auction in next financial year.Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has come out with a consultation paper seeking comments from stakeholders on auction of nine spectrum bands, including airwaves that can be used for 5G services.However, given the financial stress of telcos, the IMG felt it would not be prudent to conduct the auction in this fiscal, a source in Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said.According to sources, the panel has recommended extending the deferred payment schedule to 16 years and converting the PLR (prime lending rate) to the MCLR (marginal cost of funds-based lending rate) as the primary relief measures for financially stressed telcos.On the issue of interconnect usage charges and removal of 50 per cent spectrum cap - within a particular band - for mergers and acquisitions, the panel has ...

IMG has also recommended that the payments for spectrum be taken in 16 yrs as against current 10 yrs

The finalisation of the report comes after a three-month long deliberation