The government-appointed panel for resolving matters pertaining to spectrum has come up with the suggestion that the cellular service providers should be required to apply for a yearly renewal of license, depending upon the market price of the spectrum.

If the panel's suggestion is implemented, mobile service providers would have to pay large sums of money to renew their licenses and continue their operations. Currently, the mobile operators hold a 20-year license, granted in 1990s, for providing mobile services in the country. All new pan-India licenses are granted on the basis of a new price - Rs 1,651 crore - that was decided upon in 2001.

Though most of the mobile operators refused to comment on the panel's proposal till the time it is officially accepted and announced, some of them said that any such proposal implying a significantly high renewal fee, vis-à-vis the prevailing rates, will surely be opposed.

The somewhat contentious aspect of the panel's recommendations is that they are quite contrasting to the earlier views on the matter, expressed by the Communications Ministry as well as TRAI - the telecom regulator. Only last year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) proposal of a nearly Rs 825.5 crore payment for renewal of mobile operators' license for ten years was rejected by TRAI, who said that the renewal should be automatic.