2G licence renewal Mobile operators told to pay fees within 15 days

---

FE Report The telecom regulator Monday asked the four mobile operators of the country to submit their 2nd Generation (2G) licence renewal fees within 15 days of the notification. The regulatory body gave the direction after evaluating the applications of the operators relating to 2G licence renewal. Banglalink submitted its application on October 09 and Grameenphone, Robi and Citycell submitted their applications to the authority a day later as the operators' existing licence tenure will expire on November 10 this year. Director General (Legal & Licensing Division) of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) AKM Shahiduzzaman told the FE that they informed the four operators formally to pay their licence renewal fees within 15 days. He said they will award licences to the operators by November 10 for the next 15 years. According to the final guideline, the four mobile operators will have to pay about Tk 37 billion, 49 per cent of the total Tk 75.63 billion, as the first installment within the first week of November. Of the amount, the leading telecom operator Grameenphone will have to pay Tk 15.88 billion while Banglalink Tk 9.66 billion, Robi Tk 9.31 billion and Citycell Tk 2.20 billion. Besides, the remaining 51 per cent (about Tk 38.58 billion) will have to be paid within the next three years as per the condition of the guideline.