The chairman of the telecom regulatory body has asked the parliamentary committee on telecom to resolve the licencing issue of the country’s largest mobile operator Grameenphone.
Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Sunday told a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunication that failing to resolve GP’s licence issue might affect the 3G spectrum auction, and even result in Telenor moving away from the country.
Sources from the meeting informed the Dhaka Tribune, Bose said: “Government has to make a political decision on the country’s leading mobile company GP’s licence, as they are very concerned about the Grameen Bank commission report.”
Last Thursday Grameenphone CEO Vivek Sood met with the BTRC chairman and shared his concerns, he said.
“They said GP had learned that the final report of the Grameen Bank commission had recommended cancelling their licence.
This may affect our 3G spectrum auction,” sources at the meeting quoted Bose as saying.
The chairman expressed his concern that GP would not attend the 3G auction with their licence under threat. Bose warned that it would have a negative impact on the whole industry.
During this discussion the microphones were switched off.
Following this discussion, Telecommunications Minister Sahara Khatun took the floor, and said GP had been assured that the government will not cancel its licence, and asked why the company was fearful.
The BTRC chairman replied that many of the government’s assurances to operators had not been fulfilled, so there was little reason to trust the government’s words.
He said GP was not an operator, which sought “political blessings,” adding that it was also concerned about the issues surrounding Muhammad Yunus.
Committee chairman Md Abdus Sattar, and another source, acknowledged that the meeting had discussed these issues.
Sunil Kanti Bose also told the committee that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) was not complying with government’s decisions regarding the telecom sector, despite directives from the finance minister.
The 3G spectrum auction was being delayed because of this, he said, adding that it would create a huge impact on the telecom sector if the auction was not held as scheduled.
The topic was raised when the BTRC chairman was asked to inform the committee about the 3G auction deadline.
BTRC first declared June 24 as the date for the 3G spectrum. Then it changed the date to July 31, currently the scheduled date is September 2. To participate, the operators need to apply before August 1.
The government is expecting approximately US$1bn from the 3G spectrum auction.
BTRC chairman said: “If GP does not attend the auction, the government will lose a huge amount of money. And that will send negative signals to investors.”
He also said if Telenor, GP’s parent company, faces continuous problems here in Bangladesh, it would shift its investments to Myanmar, where it has received 2G and 3G licences recently.
When asked, Md Abdus Sattar MP, the chairman of the standing committee, said: “The matter was discussed at the meeting.
We recommended solving the issue as early as possible.”
Committee chairman also said they had recommended the state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited to go to the Money Loan Court to recover the outstanding dues from international carriers.
