Grameenphone’s parent company Telenor chief has urged Bangladesh State Minister for ICT to address the “discriminatory” policy for the upcoming auction of spectrum.
State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Telenor President and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas talked about the matter yesterday on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona. Zunaid Ahmed Palak said he would talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about the matter.
“I can’t confirm anything right now. I need to talk about it with prime minister,” he told Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.
He said Grameenphone and Telenor have been playing a “great role in our development and establishing Digital Bangladesh.”
“We must give them importance. If they think they are being discriminated, we need to see it,” said Palak.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has finalised guidelines for the auction which will allocate spectrum on 1800 band and 2100 bands. The auction is scheduled for April 30.
According to the guidelines, the operators who have spectrum less than 20 MHz in the GSM bands -- 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz -- that provide voice services, are eligible to participate in the auction. But Grameenphone is the only operator that has more than 20 MHz spectrum in those bands.
BTRC plans to allocate 10.6 MHz spectrum dividing into two different slots - one is 5 MHz and another is 5.6 MHz, with a proposed floor price of $30m per MHz.
The guidelines, however, say Grameenphone, the market leader, can take part in the second phase of the auction if any spectrum remains unsold in the first phase.
The market insiders said out of six mobile operators, only two are interested in the auction.
Palak said the government has a big plan to use Grameenphone’s 50m customers. He said they would request the operator to expand its rural area coverage.
