Jamal Uddin
Telecom regulatory body BTRC and mobile operators are on collision course over the renewal of second generation (2G) mobile licence fee, as the former has targeted to earn Tk 140 billion (Tk 14000 crore) from the operators as fee.
But the operators think it will hamper the sector's growth and create uncertainty in the industry.
Specialists suggested that the government review the draft guideline of the renewal policy to make the fledgling sector healthy.
Apart from mobile companies, World Bank, telecommunication think-tank Lirneasia and Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) asked the government to revise the renewal policy that would be finalised by April.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Maj-Gen (retd) Zia Ahmed said on many occasions that earlier it (BTRC) gave the spectrum free. Now it will have to consider the present situation keeping in mind the commitments to the people, he added.
"This fee is absolutely too much. Because of this fee, the present penetration will go down instead of increasing," said Barrister Aneek Al Haque, former legal consultant of BTRC.
He told the FE all operators are fighting in the market but one company will be punished for its highest number of subscribers. He thinks the fee is not reasonable.
"We hope the government will take such an initiative that will be a win-win situation for both sides," he noted.
Head of Corporate of Grameeenphone Mahmud Hossain said they (Grameenphone) do not know the basis of the fee and it is higher than any national benchmark.
In the draft guideline, BTRC has fixed US$ 31.50 million as spectrum fee for per Mhz though it was sold at Tk 800 million to four operators in 2008 through auction.
According to the draft guideline, present market leader Grameenphone will have to pay US$ 754 million, Banglalink US$ 410 million, Robi US$ 411 million and Citycell US$ 85 million as spectrum fee.
The draft guideline said the four operators, whose licence will expire on November 10 this year, will have to pay a total amount of Tk 280 billion of which Tk 140 billion will have to be paid during licence renewal and remaining Tk 140 billion will have to be paid in three instalments in 15 years.
BTRC has set the amount for next 15 years on the basis of revenue growth of 2010 and the operators have to pay it on the basis of utilisation factor (UF).
Operators said this fee is ever highest compared to the global practice.
They said even the financial institutions or banks of the country would not be able to give such an amount of loan, citing the instance of highest syndicate loan of Tk 8140.2 million arranged by Eastern Bank for Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Grameenphone has observed that the fees are very high. Licensing framework should be investment-friendly, it added.
In response to the draft guideline, the operator said BTRC should use a competitive bidding process to determine the market price, and gave suggestion for appointment of an international consultant to solve the issue.
"We are observing the situation and giving the regulator feed-back in terms of the draft guideline," said Zakiul Islam, director (government relation) of Banglalink.
He said, "we will express our reaction formally after meeting with the ministry."
Talking about non telecom issues, Barrister Aneek said mobile operators are practising more Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities than that of other private companies.
BTRC therefore should not impose obligations in this connection as it will discourage them as a whole.
He, however, supported the obligation on human resource (HR) recruitment as the operators worked in this field with a feudal mentality. They should appoint more Bangladeshi people and give training to them so that they could be skilled hands.
The GP corporate head said some telecom issues that are relevant to all operators will be addressed separately through consultation.
He, however, said non telecom issues like HR and CSR should not be part of the renewal licensing process.
Telecom operators said the 2G renewal fee was $21.40 million per megahertz (Mhz) in Pakistan in 2004 while in Sri Lanka 2G renewal fee was $0.38 million in 2008. In Bangladesh, the fee for 2G renewal was proposed at $31.50 million without any auction. In India the 3G fee was from $1.80 million to $23.66 million in 2010.
The actual charges to be paid by the mobile operators as envisaged in the draft guideline are much higher, when the spectrum utilisation factor is taken into account.
In fact, four mobile operators will have to pay a total of Tk 121 billion as only spectrum fees. Grameenphone will have to pay the highest -- Tk 55 billion, Banglalink around Tk 30 billion, Robi Tk 30 billion and Citycell Tk 6.2 billion, although their renewable radio spectrum volumes are not much different.
This industry has more than 71.507 million subscribers with 90 per cent of geographical area and 99 per cent of the population of the country under mobile communication coverage.
On the other hand, leaders of the sector said, so far they have deposited Tk 250 billion to the public exchequer as capital investment tax, revenue sharing, SIM tax, etc. The investment in this sector, according to the mobile operators has been Tk 300 billion from 1997 to 2010.
BTRC, mobile operators on collision course over licence fee renewal
Jamal Uddin | Published: March 28, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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