Tulip Telecom shared its pre-budget recommendations asking the government to allocate all subsidies from the USOF based on competitive bidding to ensure a level playing field for all service providers.

The company also demanded that the government stop issuing subsidies for deployment of data connectivity and instead follow tendering process to ensure a more competitive environment. Tulip also said that there should be no allocation to USOF till the current funds amounting to Rs 25,000 crore are exhausted.

Col H.S Bedi, CMD, Tulip Telecom said, “Bridging the digital divide to improve the telecom landscape in the country tops my budget wish list. I believe that the budget should proactively address the deployment of USO fund.”