COAI seeks incentives for telecom as sector tries to cope with data surge

Telecom service providers have invested and will continue to invest significantly in the telecom infrastructure

Cellular operators Association of India (COAI) on Thursday sought a slew of incentives for the telecom industry at a time when the demand is at all time high, due to work-from-home over coronavirus fears, and the sector is struggling to cope up with the sharp surge in data requirement.

Telecom services have been categorized at essential services and the industry body that represents private telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio has requested for refund of unitilized input tax credits, low cost funding, rationalization of levies and reduction of spectrum usage charges (SUC) among others.

Rajan Mathews, Director