BTRC puts different spectrum utilization fee for operators (Bangladesh)
If reports are to be believed, the new 2G spectrum licence proposal from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has baffled the operators.
According to the draft 2G licence renewal guideline, radio spectrum prices per Megahertz (MHz) are set at Tk 300 crore for the 900 MHz band, Tk 150 crore for the 1,800 MHz band of GSM technology, and Tk 150 crore for the 850 MHz band of CDMA technology.
However, the spectrum utilization charges differ per operator based on their subscriber bases. According to the draft, Grameenphone would have to pay BDT 55.04 in spectrum fees, followed by Robi which would pay BDT 30 billion, Banglalink which would pay BDT 29.94 billion, and Citycell would pay BDT 6.20 billion. The licence renewal fee for 15 years would be BDT 100 million.
Grameenphone chief corporate officer, Mahmud Hossain called the different spectrum utilization fees discriminatory and unfair. Furthermore, the government has failed to explain the exact method of calculation of the utilization fees.
Bangladesh ends February with 71.5 mn mobile subscribers
The new figures from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) have revealed that the total number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh grew to 71.51 million in February from 70.34 million in January.
Mobile operator GrameenPhone led the market with 31.14 million customers, up from 30.43 million a month earlier. Banglalink (Orascom Telecom Bangladesh) followed with 20.18 million customers, an increase from 20.04 million, while Robi (Axiata Bangladesh) ended February with 12.81 million customers, which grew from 12.63 million a month earlier.
Airtel Bangladesh saw its customer base grow to 4.37 million from 4.18 million, while Citycell’s (PBTL) subscriber base grew to 1.79 million from 1.86 million in the prior month. Teletalk’s subscriber base rose to 1.22 million from to 1.20 million in January.
Bangladeshi operators join VOIP detection system
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A system to automatically detect illegal international call terminations via VoIP has been joined by four Bangladesh operators, namely, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Warid Telecom, and Citycell.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) premises carry the system and detect mobile numbers that are used for illegal call termination.
Out of the 60 million minutes of international calls that are made to and from Bangladesh per day, 30 percent account for illegal VoIP calls. Only illegal calls generated through a ‘SIM box’ can be detected by the system while illegal VoIP operators can also use E1 lines.
Airtel- Warid deal to be probed by Bangladesh parliamentary panel
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A probe has been launched by a parliamentary committee in Bangladesh to find out the possible loss to the country from the sale of a substantial portion of mobile operator Warid’s stake to Indian telecom firm Bharti Airtel.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has been asked by the parliamentary standing committee of the planning ministry to submit a report on how 70 per cent of the shares of mobile operator Warid had been sold to Bharti Airtel only for Tk seven million ($100,937).
According to Committee chairman Oli Ahmed, the country and the government sustained a loss as Warid was allowed to hand over its share for such a low price.
It has also been revealed that the government lost millions of dollars in transfer fees as the commission allegedly allowed Warid, which invested more than $600 million in the country, to hand over 70 percent of its stake to Airtel.
Warid & Citycell ink infrastructure sharing deal (Bangladesh)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An infrastructure sharing agreement has been signed between Bangladeshi mobile operators Warid and Citycell. Base stations, towers, poles, transmitter equipment, bandwidth and power will be shared between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom, or Citycell and Warid under the terms of the agreements.
A similar infrastructure sharing deal was inked between Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi (formerly Aktel) earlier this year.
An infrastructure sharing guideline issued by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in September 2008 are taken into consideration by the operator while signing the deal.
Warid Bangladesh renamed as Airtel Bangla
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Warid Telecom (Bangladesh) whose 70% stake was acquired by Indian telco Bharti Airtel will be renamed Airtel Bangla Ltd and will be operational under this name by the end of this month.
The acquisition has been approved by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) while the investments plan has been submitted under which Bharti is set to pay off Warid’s debts of BDT2.3 billion (USD33 million) to local financial institutions along with massive network expansion under an initial BDT21 billion budget.
According to the BTRC, Warid telecom launched in May, 2007 signed up almost three million subscribers by end-December 2009.
Dhaka’s long wait for new phone operator nearly over? (Bangladesh)
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says it is planning to grant licences to private fixed line network operators in the capital Dhaka by the end of this month. ‘We are prepared to issue licences to private [land line] companies to operate in the central zone (the designated telecoms zone including the city). We expect to offer the licences by the end of this month,’ BTRC Chairman Major General (Retired) Manjurul Alam told reporters. ‘All of the companies are interested to operate in Dhaka as the profit margin is higher here. We will tag a condition that any company interested to operate in Dhaka is obliged to expand their activities nationwide and this is mandatory,’ said the chairman. Any company failing to expand its activities outside Dhaka as per its plan submitted to the Commission will face a heavy fine, he added. The authority is yet to publish final details of licence fees and the number of concessions up for grabs. The BRTC also confirmed that it would not renew any existing licence of operators that had failed to launch services in the city presumably referring to WorldTel, the British Virgin Islands-registered firm which was issued with a fixed licence concession in July 2001 but has delayed a promised launch of CDMA WiLL-based limited mobility PSTN services ever since. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, despite the successful licensing and launch of a host of new fixed line and fixed-wireless operators in all other areas of the country, an estimated 250,000 Dhaka residents are still waiting for a fixed connection, with incumbent Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) unable to meet demand. The central metropolitan zone, covering Dhaka city, Zinjira, Savar, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Tongi, accounts for over half of Bangladesh’s telecoms demands, according to the BTRC. According to GlobalComms, provincial private WiLL operators itching to meet the ready demand in the capital include Telebarta (Jubok Phone), National TeleCom (NationalPhone), Peoples Telecom (PeoplesTel), GEP Telecom, OneTel Communications, Ranks Telecom (RanksTel), Jalalabad Telecom (Bijoy Phone), Banglaphone, Westec (Bay Phones) and SA Telecom.
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