Newer telecom operators and dual technology entities are opposing the department of telecommunications (DoT)'s decision to ask the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to give its view on whether the price of spectrum being offered in the coming 2G auction should be valid for 10 years instead of 20 years.
The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, the CDMA operators' body, said mobile services could become dearer by 28 paisa per minute if the recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India are accepted in their current form.
Liberalization and telecom reforms are known to be necessary to hasten growth in tele-density.
The CDMA-based mobile subscriber base of private operators touched 80.68 lakh (8.06 million), adding 343,000 customers in June this year.
A bench comprising justices K S Radhakrishnan and Vikramajit Sen said CAG can carry out the audit to examine whether the companies are giving proper share of their revenue to the government.
Department of Telecom had sought the legal opinion of the matter from the government's counsel.
Companies might have to shell out a fourth of the industry's annual net revenue to clear the obligation
Last week, the Supreme Court refused to grant interim relief to the operators.
Trai said the reports that compensation was not feasible were based on wrong inputs.
Concerned over the series of attacks on mobile phone towers in the valley, the Centre also issued an advisory to the state government.
At Rs 2,685 crore for 1MHz pan-Indian spectrum, reserve price would be 52% higher than that of 1,800MHz band
Instead of only government departments and state-owned undertakings, the CAG can now audit private companies, too.
