Telecom Industry Flays 16% Licence Fee On Satphone Firms

The Telecom Industry Services Association (TISA) has criticised a decision by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to impose a licence fee equal to 16 per cent of gross revenue on global mobile personal communications system (GMPCS or satellite phone systems).

A TISA delegation met A N Prasad, member (finance) of the Telecom Commission and aired its concern over some of the terms and conditions of the satellite phone licence.

According to a press release from the association, P K Sandell, TISA president, congratulated DoT for arriving at a licence fee structure which has both a fixed and varying component.

The GMPCS licence envisages a fixed levy of Rs 1 crore and a varying fee of 16 per cent of revenues.