By Nick Wood
Five local mobile operators line up to duke it out for four licences.All five Bangladeshi mobile operators that submitted applications to participate in the country’s upcoming 3G auction have been approved by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Grameenphone, Robi Axiata, Banglalink, Airtel and Citycell made their submissions last Tuesday. The auction is scheduled to begin on 8 September. News of their qualification for the auction was released in a BTRC statement over the weekend.
Numerous local news outlets said the BTRC hoped to attract new players to the market – possibly even foreign operators – but none emerged.
40 MHz of spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band will be auctioned, with a reserve price of US$20 million per MHz of bandwidth. The spectrum will be split into eight 5-MHz blocks, with each bidder permitted to secure a maximum of two blocks, unless any spectrum remains unsold on conclusion of the auction.
The licences will run for 15 years.
As a result, on 8 September five operators will compete for four licences, meaning one is set to be disappointed. A fifth licence has been guaranteed to state-run Teletalk, which already offers 3G services, having launched in October last year. – Total Telecom via Google News
