A fresh move for foreign investment in the country's telecommunication sector has been foiled due to the syndicated hindrance posed by the cellular phone operators, said officials.
They said the operators had made the move to avert any kind of competition from new foreign firms in the upcoming auction for 3G spectrum assignment, reports BSS.
Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), said they had yet to receive any assurance from the new firms for 3G auction although three foreign companies showed interest.
"It seems to us that no foreign operator would take part in the forthcoming 3G auction," added Bose.
Earlier, one renowned operator from Asia and two from Europe communicated with the regulator after publishing 3G guidelines and showed interest in participating in the process.
Officials said the regulator, in the 3G guidelines, at first had offered 2G licences to the new entrants, as the interested firms had said they needed the licences to compete with exiting operators, but the operators had opposed the move and forced it to be cancelled.
A Japanese company NTT DOCOMO was in race as the last foreign firm, but had dropped out recently following hindrance from the local operators, officials added.
They said the regulator had imposed 70% charges on the 2G licences for the new entrants following syndicated pressure from operators.
"The NTT DOCOMO, even after paying the 70% charges, was ready to invest both in 2G and 3G services, but the existing operators apprehending it risky managed to change the rule again, and so the new entrant has to pay the full amount for 2G," added the officials.
"Finally, the NTT DOCOMO gave up its move that made the country loser form getting huge amount of foreign investment."
Now, the operators have started lobbying again to change the auction process and make the unsold block free for all.
Meanwhile, Banglalink, Robi and Grameenphone threatened that they would not take part in the auction if the process were not changed.
In the wake of their threat, the regulator has shifted the auction date to September 8 from September 2. The deadline of application submission has also been extended to August 12, which was previously scheduled to end on August 1.
According to the BTRC auction process, participants who bid for 10MHz spectrum will be allowed to bid for the unsold spectrum. The participants who bid for 5MHz will not be eligible to bid for the unsold block.
Operators have stood against the auction procedure, as it would put an end to any possible syndication.
"The operators are in a syndicate to manipulate the 3G auction, which will not be possible if the present auction procedure method prevails," the officials claimed.
The regulator decided to issue three 3G licences among the five operators while state-owned Teletalk, which is offering 3G services on a trial basis, is to be awarded a licence without participation in the auction.