The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has pegged the difference between the entry fee paid by cellular and basic operators between Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) and Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion).

It has, however, said factors like the performance bank guarantee paid by operators, spectrum charges, rollout obligations, extent of mobility and growth in subscriber base need to be looked at before finalising the entry fee for limited mobility services.

In a consultation paper issued on Thursday, the regulator has sought to address issues raised by the telecom disputes tribunal relating to a level playing field between cellular and limited mobile operators.

These include additional entry fee payable by basic operators for providing limited mobility services, fee chargeable for providing spectrum beyond 5 MHz to basic operators, relief to cellular mobile operators with regard to points of interconnection with basic service providers and increasing the revenue share for cellular operators from 5 per cent.

The department of telecommunications on August 18 had sought the recommendations of Trai on these issues. The consultation paper issued on Thursday is the first step towards formalising the guidelines. All stakeholders can send in their views by September 15.

The regulator has said in view of the tribunal's order, "it is important to consider the appropriate level of additional entry fee to be paid by basic service operators for being allowed to provide limited mobility services. A number of factors need to be considered when making such a decision."

On the issue of increasing access charges for cellular operators, Trai has said it is in the process of revising the interconnect charges and will announce them shortly.