Bangladesh govt to revise 2G spectrum renewal guidelines

The Bangladesh government has agreed to revise the draft 2G licence renewal guidelines and to keep spectrum fees at a rational level. The telecommunications ministry held a meeting with four mobile operators, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi, and Citycell, to discuss the issues around the 2G licence renewal plan. All issues except finance have been finalised, the Daily star reports citing telecommunications minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju. The minister said the guidelines drafted by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will be revised. "The radio spectrum price as well as other charges would be determined after another meeting with the finance ministry," Raju said. "Fees will be reconsidered and kept at rational level." According to the earlier draft, the price per MHz was set at BDT 3 billion for the 900 MHz band, BDT 1.5 billion for the 1,800 MHz band, and BDT 1.5 billion for the 850 MHz band for CDMA technology. However, the spectrum utilisation charges differed per operator based on their subscriber bases. According to the draft, Grameenphone would have to pay BDT 55.04 billion 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. Operators asked the government to revise the draft. The government will finalise the licence guideline by the end of May and then operators will get three months to apply for a new 2G licence. The process needs to be completed by November this year.