Close on the heels of slashing performance bank guarantee for domestic long distance (STD) telecom service providers by 50%, government today reduced licence fee for infrastructure providers to 6% of adjusted gross revenue from the existing 15%.

Acting on Trai's recommendation, communication and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran has taken the decision with a view to promote bandwidth availability to make telecom services further competitive and affordable. With this, six licensees including Gail, PGCIL and Railtel Corp along with three private companies would be the main beneficiaries of the move.

This measure would help in accelerating the growth of bandwidth at national level and will enable the infrastructure providers category-II to effectively utilise their existing infrastructure and offer competitive prices, an official statement said here.