In a public hearing on merger agreement between mobile phone operators Robi and Airtel, most opinions came in favour of the deal.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) organised the hearing at its conference room in Dhaka yesterday under Telecommunication Act 2001.
A total of 98 professionals took part in the hearing presided over by BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood. Of them, 34 people gave their views and 28 of them spoke in favour of merger.
Shahjahan Mahmood assured the participants that because of merger there would be no job cut. He said BTRC would make final decision on the merger deal after getting report of a market impact survey.
“As there is no guideline on merger, the regulator will have to take decision based on public hearing, market study impact report, opinion of other four operators and recommendation of a high-level BTRC committee,” he said.
BTRC chief said they were also receiving opinions through email and had so far got around 100 opinions through email.
In his opinion, Barrister Anik R Haque said Robi shouldn’t hold “a huge spectrum as it’s a national resource.”
He said the operators would need make sure that no employees of both operators would lose job due to merger. “Though there is an assurance in this regard, there should have a provision of voluntary retirement scheme (VRS),” Anik added.
BTRC on January 31 invited people from different professions to a public hearing scheduled on 17 February.
The invitaion came just after Robi and Airtel signed a merger agreement on January 29. As per the deal, the joint venture will operate under the name “Robi.”
The Malaysia-based Axiata Group Berhad and India-based Bharti Airtel Limited inked the deal at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Earlier, Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Advisor Sajeeb Wajed Joy directed the BTRC to take public opinion before finalising Robi-Airtel merger in December last year while he sat with high-ups of the telecommunications division at the secretariat.
Joy also directed to form a committee to analyse the market at the same meeting. The commission already formed a two-member committee comprising two teachers.
The regulatory body also sought opinion from other mobile operators in Bangladesh. The operators have submitted their opinions.
After the last September merger talks, the two operators submitted a joint application to BTRC which is now carrying out the review of the merger’s impact on the existing telecom market.
Robi and Airtel expect that they would get necessary approval of their deal by June 2016.
