NEW DELHI: Top telecom industry executives who met TRAI chief RS Sharma on Wednesday have flagged several issues which they believe the regulator must prioritise in 2020, including a floor price for the sector and redefining adjusted gross revenue (AGR) prospectively.
The meeting to gather the industry’s views on what the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) should focus on next year comes amidst a period of significant financial stress for the segment, with telcos facing a mammoth Rs 1.47 lakh crore bill for dues arising from the Supreme Court’s verdict on AGR.
The apex court had ruled that this figure should include non-telecom revenues too when used to calculate telcom companies’ licence fees and spectrum usage charges. The AGR judgment has only been the trigger for the recent crisis, which saw Airtel and Vodafone Idea post record losses in the second quarter this fiscal.
The sharp fall in tariffs post the launch of Reliance Jio in 2016 has put a substantial dent in telcom companies’ revenues and margins. According to telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the sector’s gross revenue has plunged since Jio’s entry, going from Rs 2.65 lakh crore in 2016-17 to Rs 2.46 lakh crore in 2017-18 and just Rs 2.24 lakh crore last fiscal.
Sources said that the meeting saw telecom industry chiefs, including Vodafone Idea’s CEO Ravinder Takkar, raise both issues as things which should figure on TRAI’s 2020 focus list. "The industry sought a consultation on floor prices and a redefinition of AGR. TRAI will finalise a list of priority areas based on the written recommendations of the industry," said an official.