Mobile groups face India spectrum fee

India’s government has confirmed plans to make mobile operators including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone pay a one-time “spectrum charge” that could amount to as much as $4.24 billion, dealing a further blow to the debt-strapped industry.

A ministerial group meeting in New Delhi confirmed moves to charge for so-called “excess spectrum” owned by operators in certain areas. Government estimates have previously suggested this charge could raise as much as Rs226bn ($4.24 billion). The move is the latest blow to an industry which was once viewed as an emblem of the economic dynamism of Asia’s third-largest economy, but has since become increasingly known for incompetent regulation, fierce price competition, stagnant revenues and ballooning debts. It also follows a second move, in which regulators recommended that some operators should be forced to rebid for their highest-quality spectrum, in a process known as spectrum “refarming”.