The much awaited 3G mobile spectrum auction, scheduled for July 31, is going to be delayed by at least two more weeks.
The likely delay is a result of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) failing to appoint any local consultant for holding the auction and the country’s leading telecom operator Grameenphone (GP) Limited not showing much interest because of uncertainties surrounding the final report of the Grameen Bank Commission (GBC).
The first date for 3G spectrum auction was fixed at June 24, which was then rescheduled for July 31.
BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose told the Dhaka Tribune: “A process is underway for rescheduling the 3G auction. There is a chance it may be held towards the end of August.”
He said the country’s telecom regulator had primarily decided to delay the auction upon requests from the mobile operators who needed more time for filing applications.
Sunil also said: “There is a meeting of BTRC on June 10. We may take the relevant decisions in that meeting.”
Meanwhile, GP Chairman Sigve Brekke, in a letter dated May 28, has requested Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith to resolve the Grameen Bank Commission issue before moving forward with the 3G process.
“It is of utmost importance to Telenor [GP’s Norwegian mother company] that the Grameen Bank Commission matter related to Grameenphone and Telenor is resolved, with no harm towards our interest, prior to any commitments being made in the 3G process,” said Sigve Brekke, also the executive vice-president and head of Telenor Asia.
The Annex 9 of the GBC interim report, which put GP’s ability to make future investments at risk, needed to be cleared before the company could make fresh investments, Brekke said in the letter.
The commission in its interim report, published in February, said the process of awarding license to GP was done in a clear “breach” of regulations and under the “influence of Dr Muhammad Yunus,” the founder of Grameen Bank.
The commission also recommended cancellation of GP’s license which gave rise to fears in the minds of Telenor authorities, owner of GP’s majority share, about the future of the company.
Telenor had placed a few other demands to the finance minister including the exclusion of GP’s name from the GBC report, not associating Dr Yunus’s name with GP’s business and an assurance that its license would not be cancelled before its validity ran out.
Norway’s Trade and Industries Minister Trond Giske, who visited Bangladesh in April, has also sent separate letters to Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Commerce Minister GM Qader, containing similar requests.
Muhith had earlier reportedly assured the GP chairman that its license would not be cancelled under any condition.
BTRC made fresh advertisements on June 6 seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI) from local consultants for holding the auction.
Chief of telecom regulator Sunil said they were still optimistic about appointing local consultants.
“The local consultant will help the ‘3G Auction Management Committee’ to foster all the process related to the bidding,” he said.
Meanwhile, the telecom regulator had formed a 14-member core committee led by its Legal and Licensing Division Commissioner Md Abdus Samad.
Earlier on February 12, BTRC first declared the schedule for auction with April 12 set as the deadline for submitting applications but had failed to hire a consultant then as well.
According to guidelines, the regulator will award three licenses to the bid winners from among five existing operators and a new one.
The state-run operator, Teletalk, has already got the 3G license by default.
The tenure of the 3G license will be 15 years.
