Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Jun 25, 2009
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jun 25, 2009 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio | Blogs |
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Info-Tech
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Broadband States - Other States Give USO Fund autonomy, rationalise taxes for telecom: CII
Our Bureau New Delhi, June 24 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday submitted a five-point recommendation on telecom and broadband to Mr A. Raja, Minister for Communications and Information Technology. In its recommendation, the chamber has suggested a roadmap for accelerating the growth of broadband in India and providing autonomy to Universal Services Obligation (USO) Fund administrator for the strengthening of the broadband infrastructure. “The industry is fully prepared to take the onus of being the global no. 1 in telecom by 2014-15,” said Mr Manoj Kohli, Chairman-CII National Committee on Telecom & Broadband, and Joint Managing Director & CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd. According to a CII broadband study, India 2009-2014: Broadband Roadmap for Inclusive Growth, the aim would be to reach 695 million users by 2014, including 309 million in rural India. ‘Lower taxes’CII has recommended rationalisation of taxes and levies for the sector. This is a must for affordable tele-services as the taxes and levies paid by the Indian telecom sector in the form of licence fee, spectrum charges, access deficit charges and service tax are the highest when compared to other Asian economies, said the chamber. This amounts to 24-34 per cent of the adjusted gross revenue. The chamber also said that the USO should be given the responsibility of laying down high-speed Fiber-To-The-Kerb infrastructure across the country. It also suggested a single-window clearance and lowering of taxes for towers and digging. “Broadband connectivity will considerably enhance the quality of life with useful and critical applications such as e-governance, e-education and e-health,” said the CII. According to the chamber, the planned auctions of 3G and broadband wireless access spectrum should be completed expeditiously so as to roll out these services by mid-2010. It added that the maximum possible spectrum should be allotted in 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz bands. CII also suggested that telecom infrastructure be developed as a priority for rural areas. To achieve this, the Government needs to address issues related to tower construction approvals, tower sharing and standardisation. It also needs to provide backhaul for broadband connectivity to all villages, including making electricity available at a reasonable price. The chamber also pointed out to the Minister that India has a huge potential for telecom manufacturing and the creation of its own IT technologies. More Stories on : Broadband | Industry Associations | Other States
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