Bangladeshi operators slam licence renewal proposal

Four Bangladeshi mobile operators have called on the government to revise its draft policy on spectrum licence renewal. Grameenphone, Banglalink, Citycell, and Robi said in a joint press conference that licence renewal and spectrum fees would cost them around BDT 140 billion. The draft policy, released in January, proposes that operators share 5.5 percent of their profits with the government and also proposes that operators spend 1.5 percent of their profit as social obligation, bdnews24.com reports. The licence renewal fee has been proposed at BDT 100,000 and annual licence fees at BDT 50 million. Licences would be renewed for fifteen years. Spectrum fees have been proposed at BDT 50,000 and spectrum assignment fees at BDT 1.5 billion for every MHz in the 1800 MHz band and BDT 3 billion per MHz in the 900 MHz band. CDMA spectrum assignment fees have been set at BDT 1.5 billion. Grameenphone chief executive Oddvar Hesjedal said the whole telecommunications industry will face a serious crisis if the policy is implemented as is. Citycell acting chief Mahfuzur Rahman said that the additional charges will burden subscribers and prevent operators from making investments. Banglalink's chief executive Ahmed Abou Doma further said that operators would not be able to reach break-even under the policy. Furthermore, Airtel and Teletalk do not have to renew their licences as they have not yet operated for fifteen years. Doma said that there will not be a level playing field if they don't have to pay the fees as well.