Telecom officials say auction procedure may lead to confusion
The telecom regulator yesterday reminded mobile operators of the August 1 deadline for submitting applications for licences of 3G services.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission shared a draft of the 3G auction procedures with the operators at a meeting at its office and asked them to give their opinions by tomorrow.
However, the draft of the auction process may give rise to confusion among operators as there will be three phases in the auction, officials of some operators said.
They said, according to the auction process, big operators will get the opportunity to buy more spectrum investing a lesser amount per MHz.
The operators who will purchase 10 MHz or 15 MHz of spectrum will pay at a lower rate than what the operators will pay to buy 5 MHz, they said.
The regulator plans to go with such an auction process to give special discounts to some big operators and also to sell the entire spectrum in the 2.1 gigahertz band, the officials said.
A total of 40 MHz spectrum will be sold to private operators through the auction scheduled for September 2.
Also, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose had earlier said that if the operators purchase more than two blocks, each block containing 5 megahertz of spectrum, in the auction, they will get discount on the third block.
The operators may also see different base prices in different phases of the auction, according to the draft auction procedures.
Another BTRC official said they have more saleable spectrum than the demand. “So the regulator wants to create an artificial crisis to earn more from the auction,” the official said seeking not to be named.
Zakiul Islam, senior director of Banglalink, said, “We believe the regulator will ensure competitiveness among the operators in the auction.” “The three phases of the auction will not ensure competitiveness,” he said.
Mehboob Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Citycell, said, “We are examining the process and will give our opinions on Wednesday.”
Md Abdus Samad, commissioner (legal and licensing) of the BTRC, told journalists yesterday that the regulator will soon give an explanation to the operators on the auction procedures.
However, the operators have demanded extending the application submission deadline.
Source: The Daily Star
