Bangladeshi telecommunication licence renewal finalised

Bangladeshi telecommunication regulator has finalised the draft licence renewal guidelines for the telecommunication sector, under which the four major operators are likely to pay a combined BDT 140 billion for licence renewal next year, reports The Daily Star. The renewal fee for the four operators, whose licence will expire next year will be BDT 100 million each, according to the renewed guidelines drafted at a meeting of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The four operators Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell, will have to pay a combined BDT 280 billion as frequency charge during licence renewal. Under the new guidelines, the renewed licence will be issued for a period of fifteen years and the operators will have to pay the licence fees based on their revenue earnings over that time, BTRC officials said. The regulator sent the draft guidelines to the post and telecommunication ministry for review. As a result of the new directive, it is estimated that Grameenphone has to pay around BDT 70 billion during licence renewal next year, while Robi and Banglalink would each pay around BDT 30 billion and Citycell around BDT 10 billion. Earlier, the committee formed to take a decision on licence renewal for the telecommunication operators recommended a renewal fee of BDT 3.5 billion each. But, later it was decided to take into account the frequency charge that is determined by the revenue per user and subscriber base of the mobile operators over the last fourteen years.