Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has rejected the appeal of mobile phone operator Banglalink for direct assignment of 5MHz spectrum in 2100MHz band without any auction.
The telecom regulator has termed the appeal as “illogical” and “unwanted” saying that the operator has sought direct spectrum assignment when the process of auction for spectrum in different bands is underway, according to a BTRC letter sent to Banglalink.
Banglalimk Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Erik Aas in a letter to the BTRC recently desired to acquire 5MHz (paired) of 2100MHz spectrum through direct assignment for Taka 8.46 million.
He also said: “Banglalink’s offer is subject to the reallocation of our current 5MHz block of 2100MHz, so that when it is combined with the new spectrum, the combined 10MHz (paired) 2100MHz spectrum will be contiguous.”
In 2013, BTRC held 3G auction where each MHz of paired spectrum in 2100 band was sold at US$ 21 million against the base price of US$ 20 million.
Recently, the posts and telecommunications division (PTD) has directed the telecom regulator to take necessary measures to hold auction for all spectrums for 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE services.
Meanwhile, the PTD has approved the guideline for selling the spectrum of 2100MHz band and set US$ 25 million as base price for each MHz of airwave. In addition, the guideline has no provision for direct sale of the spectrum in IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication) band without auction.
The BTRC told Banglalink that the appeal for direct spectrum allocation without auction is totally “inconsistent” and “unacceptable”.
On the other hand, it said Banglalink’s appeal has been appeared as totally illogical and unwanted when a guideline for selling the remaining spectrum in E-GSM (900MHz), 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands was sent to the PTD for approval and process of auction for it is ongoing. “In this context, such proposal with this financial offer by Banglalink is extremely ‘unclear’ and ‘unrealistic’ which is appeared as the breach of the aim of the auction,” said the BTRC letter.
The letter also said “the proposal by Banglalink would create instability in country’s telecom sector and insist other operators to refrain from the participation of the forthcoming auction” which is not acceptable from the operator at all.
In 2013 auction, Grameenphone bagged 3G licence for 10Megahertz (MHz) spectrum at the price of US$ 210 million, while Banglalink, Robi and Airtel each acquired 5MHz of spectrum at a price of US$ 105 million. State-own Teletalk also collected 10MHz of spectrum.
BTRC has 15 Megahertz of unsold spectrum in the 2100 band while 10.6 Megahertz in the 1800 band and some spectrum in 900 band that came from Airtel after its merger with Robi.
Mobile operators use 2100 band for 3G services and 900 and 1800 bands for 2G services, reports BSS.
