Bangladesh ministry proposes lower spectrum fees

The Bangladesh telecommunications ministry has proposed to revise the spectrum charges for the four mobile operators that need to renew their licences. The ministry proposes to cut fees by over BDT 40 billion from what the regulator proposed earlier, The Daily Star reports. Under the new proposal, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi, and Citycell will pay a total of BDT 78.24 billion for licence renewal while the regulator proposed a total of BDT 121.18 billion. The 900 and 1,800 MHz band will be priced the same at BDT 1.50 billion for 3G operators Grameenphone, Banglalink, and Robi. CDMA operator Citycell will be required to pay BDT 1 billion per MHz. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) earlier set a spectrum utilisation fee that was different for each operator, based on the number of subscribers. The ministry's proposal sets the spectrum utilisation for Grameenphone at 1.60, for Banglalink at 1.10, for Robi at 0.95, and for Citycell at 0.45. The ministry will soon make a final decision on the licence procedures and will meet with the finance and planning ministries to finalise the pricing.