The Indian government is preparing to waive off crores of rupees in Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for telecom companies. Sunil Mittal led Airtel and Mukesh Ambani led Jio may gain from this relief. But Vodafone Idea will get major benefits if the deal comes true.  According to a Times of India report citing sources SUC charges on airwaves purchased before September 2021 may soon be waived. This decision will give a big advantage to Vodafone Idea which has massive debts on it. Whereas Airtel and Reliance Jio will also benefit from improved 5G deployment and network expansion. In June 2022 the government decided that SUC would not apply to bandwidth auctioned after September 15 2021. However no decision was made regarding the spectrum auctioned before this period. According to a media report the SUC waiver for pre-2022 spectrum is likely to receive approval soon as the government wants to increase network expansion by telecom operators. Who Will Receive More Benefits? The government believes that the spectrum auctions have already received fair prices with bidding often reaching very high amounts. Hence there is no need to impose additional taxes on the spectrum. Currently telecom companies pay SUC in addition to a license fee which is 8% of their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). Of this 5% goes to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and SUC constitutes about 3-4% of the AGR. Vodafone Idea is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of this waiver. The company which has over Rs 2 lakh crore in debt can save up to Rs 8000 crore. Discussions between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and other ministries regarding this matter have reportedly concluded and the SUC waiver announcement is expected soon. Elon Musk Starlinks Entry This relief is given when Elon Musk’s company Starlink is set to enter India’s telecom sector. Starlink provides satellite-based internet services in over 100 countries and plans to invest Rs 2 lakh crore in India. However while local telecom companies will enjoy the SUC waiver Starlink will be required to pay taxes on its spectrum. Media reports claim that Starlink and other satellite operators will have to pay SUC because their spectrum will be allocated on an administrative basis rather than through auctions. Companies receiving spectrum at government-determined prices must pay taxes on it unlike those acquiring spectrum through auctions which are exempt from SUC.