MADRID, Spain-The controversy over the Spanish government’s plans to impose an annual 160 billion peseta (US$866 million) “supertariff” on spectrum use has taken a new twist. Anna Birules, the minister of science and technology, announced the rate could be revisable on a yearly basis. She went on to say that even with the tariff-the brunt of which will affect mobile-phone operators-the cost of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses in Spain would still be cheaper than in most of Europe.
Birules was also clear that a revisable tax would not necessarily mean a reduction in the price of the tariff, but rather each year, a fair market value would be assessed for spectrum use. She also reiterated the spectrum tax would not fall only on 3G operators, but on all companies using spectrum.
The announcement will most likely not satisfy critics of the tax who charge it will stifle competition because it would fall evenly on all operators, irrespective of market share. It remains unclear how the tariff will affect plans unveiled by the government to award two new GSM licenses. This sparked yet another controversy because the government took away promised bandwidth from several current GSM operators to make room for two new, and as of yet undetermined, players.
