BTRC switches Citycell on

BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune. The process to open the spectrum was initiated at around 6pm and was opened a few minutes after that, the BTRC spokesperson said. Earlier in yesterday morning, the Supreme Court asked the BTRC to explain why it did not comply with the court order of opening spectrum for Citycell. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha sought the explanation from the telecom regulator Sunday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Citycell’s lawyer brought the matter to the court’s notice. Meanwhile, Tarana Halim, state minister for Posts and Telecommunication Division, yesterday said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) started the process to open the Citycell spectrum. “As the process is related with technical system, it  takes time. Now, we are waiting for the certified copy of Supreme Court needed to open the spectrum,” said Tarana in the afternoon. “The court informed us verbally and we have to respect the court verdict as we are respectful to the court.” On Sunday the court wanted an explanation from BTRC as to why the regulator did not open the Citycell spectrum despite its order. On November 3, mobile operator Citycell got the Apex Court’s nod to continue its operation till November 19. Within the date, it will have to pay Tk100 crore to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to continue its operations and if it fails, the telecom regulator may cancel its spectrum again. The court also ordered formation of a special dispute resolution committee to deal with the outstanding bill that the CDMA network operator owes to the BTRC. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Thursday asked the government to immediately reinstate the spectrum allocation and fix a fresh deadline. BTRC cancelled the spectrum of Citycell on October 20 and shut its offices after the operator failed repeatedly to pay various fees. Thereafter, the cellphone company went to the apex court, seeking its spectrum allocation back on October 24. BTRC had been saying that the company owed it Tk477.69 crore in spectrum renewal fee, annual licence and spectrum fees, plus VAT. But Citycell disagreed over the amount, saying it should be much less since the regulator’s method of determining the amount was flawed. During Thursday’s hearing, Citycell’s counsel told the court that in their view, the due amount is Tk216 crore, of which they have already paid Tk144 crore in installments as per a previous court directive. Of the money, Tk14 crore was paid to the National Board of Revenue. Citycell is the only CDMA network operating in the country. It is currently owned by Singtel with 45% stake and the remaining 55% by Pacific Group and Far East Telecom.