NEW DELHI, INDIA: The government will review the share of revenue it levies from firms offering mobile services for the use of wireless spectrum, as it considers new recommendations from the regulator, the telecoms minister said on Friday.

Operators pay the government a percentage of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for spectrum used to transmit wireless services.

The telecoms tribunal in August recommended raising the share by 1 percent if operators held spectrum beyond 8 megahertz.

"It is incumbent upon the ministry to revisit AGR," Andimuthu Raja told reporters.

He said the government had held off deciding on the matter until it had fixed the minimum number of subscribers operators need to be eligible for spectrum grants, which was also part of the August recommendations.

India this week set new rules for spectrum allocation, raising the minimum subscriber numbers required by between two and six times.

Adjusted gross revenue is the income from services allowed under a telecoms licence. It includes income from rent of towers and from sales of handsets bundled with services.

The minister also said there would be no rise in the fee for a new telecoms licence.

Forty-six firms have applied for licences in some or all of the country's telecoms zones, and Raja said the government was processing the applications.