Four private mobile-phone operators in Bangladesh have deposited earnest money to bid for 3G spectrum.
The country’s first private operator, Citycell, however, did not deposit any money, though eligible for bidding.
As a result, it will not be able to take part in the much-awaited 3G auction scheduled for Sep 8, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose has said.
Private operators Grameenphone, Banglalink, Airtel and Robi deposited their earnest money of $ 20 million to the regulator on Thursday.
Giasuddin Ahmed, Vice Chairman of the regulatory authority, said the auction process had effectively started with the deposition of earnest money.
Bose said Citycell had sought an extension of the earnest money deposition deadline citing financial problems.
“We have no scope to keep Citycell’s requests,” he said. “We’ll sell spectrums if we have any left after the bidding as per our policy.”
On Feb 12, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication had finalised the licensing policy for 3G services, fixing the spectrum value at $20 million per MHz.
It had been initially decided that three of the five private operators and one new entrant would get licences. But with no new operator choosing to bid, four existing ones would get the licences.
BTRC chief Bose said initially, the auction would be held in two phases.
Had Citycell come, the competition would have been greater, he said.
Grameenphone’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Mahmud Hossain said the government was positive on various issues including SIM replacement.
“We hope they will be solved before the auction,” he told journalists.
The telecom regulator on Sep 18 declared five private mobile operators in Bangladesh eligible for bidding.
State-owned Teletalk is currently providing 3G services on an experimental basis.
It need not join the auction but will have to obtain the licence by paying the same amount the private operators would to get 3G spectrum.
The licence will be valid for 15 years.
Source: Bd news24
