The government is planning to stop the current discounted fee of broadcasting spectrum for the country’s television channels much earlier than stipulated time.
The discounted price was offered to the television channel owners for transmitting through Bangabandhu Satellite 1 for one year effective October, this year.
The Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company sources said because of the current discounted prices for local TV channels , the price negotiation with a number of South Asian countries who showed interest for satellite services from Bangabandhu 1, were being hampered.
On October 2, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the transmission rights via Bangabandhu 1 to the country’s 34 TV station owners.
BCSCL official said the TV channels were offered discounted rate of Tk 1.57 lakh for per MHz spectrum per month, lowering from its original rate of Tk 1.95 lakh for a period of one year.
Earlier, most of the TV channels were taking the service from Hong Konk -based Star Alliance where they used to pay fee around Tk3.50 to Tk4 lakh per month for per MHz spectrum.
According to the insiders, Star Alliance is now also offering discounted rate to Bangladeshi TV channels in a bid to stay in competition with the BCSCL.
“We might return to the original price of the transmission spectrum for the TV stations to increase competiveness,” BCSCL Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
He said the TV channels were getting quality services through Bangabandhu 1.
“We are also in talks with Nepal and Bhutan as they expressed interests to take services from Bangabandhu 1,” he added.
Launched in May 2018, the total expenditure of the Bangabandhu Satellite 1 was Tk 2,000 crore and as per the project proposal of the cost will be recovered in eight years.
The satellite company chairman also said with this project one third of the capacity of the satellite would be used as it had 40 transponders capacity to serve.
The local television channels would use about 5.5% of the transponders.
The government is planning to launch the country’s second satellite in 2023.
Last month a delegation of Russian satellite company Glavkosmos, led by Russian Ambassador in Dhaka Alexander I Ignatov, met Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar to express their interest to install the second satellite.
Country’s first satellite was launched into the orbital slot at 119.1 degree east longitude. The slot was bought from another Russian satellite company “Intersputnik” for US$28 million in January 2015.