Telephone tariffs will go up 100 per cent hitting customers hard if the government accepts the sector regulator’s proposals on spectrum auction, service providers warned yesterday.

“Our belief is that the implication could be as high as 100 per cent of the existing rates to be compensated by the customers. This would vary circle to circle and doesn’t take into account any spectrum re-farming, which would actually push prices even further,” said Sanjay Kapoor, Airtel chief executive officer.