The government raised around Tk 52.68 billion from 4G spectrum auction and tech-neutrality fee Tuesday, delivering instructions for mobile operators to improve services with the latest technology.
Telecommunications and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar came down hard on the mobile-phone operators out of his dissatisfaction over the quality of telecom services in Bangladesh while outer world is making strides.
"Telecom operators are not providing the service free of cost. The customers are paying for it and we want good-quality service in return," the newly appointed minister said while speaking during the auctioning of 2100, 1800 and 900Mhz spectra in the capital, Dhaka.
"While going from home to office, I usually face eight to ten call drops, while the speed of internet is also not up to the mark," he said, focusing on the fault line along the information superhighway.
"The usual allegation was that there were not enough spectrums or there is no tech neutrality. But now, there is no scope for such excuse either," said Mr Jabbar, who was sworn in the cabinet recently as an IT virtuoso.
"We have offered additional spectrum through auction. We have provided the operators with tech neutrality. Now, we want quality service," he said.
He added: It is not at all acceptable that they would neither buy additional spectrum nor provide quality service.
The telecom minister's remarks came just days before government formally hands over the 4G licence to the mobile operators.
"We will officially hand over the licences on February 20 so that the operators can go for 4G service by next day," Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood said during the function.
Echoing the minister cautioning the mobile operators, Mr Mahmood said: "Quality of service largely depends on the amount of spectrum. The company that holds more spectra can provide better service."
In Bangladesh, Grameenphone serves 2.0 million customers with each megahertz spectrum while Robi serves 1.1 million with each MHz. Meanwhile, Banglalink serves 1.6 million customers with each MHz spectrum, the BTRC chairman mentioned.
In Malaysia or Germany, he said, telecom operators are serving around 0.1 to 0.3 million customers with each megahertz spectrum. "So, it is easy to see why the quality of service is not up to the mark in the country."
Mr Mahmood informed his audience that still enough spectra remained unused that are up for sale and the mobile operators should look to acquire them.
Earlier, during the spectrum auction, Banglalink bought 5megahertz spectrum in 2100megahertz band and another 5 megahertz in the 1800megahertz band. Country's biggest mobile operator, Grameenphone, bought 5.6megahertz spectrum band out of 1800megahertz on sale.
The final auction proceeds from each megahertz of spectra in 2100Mhz was US$ 27 million while the price of each megahertz in 1800Mhz was US$ 3 million.
"The total market price of the sold spectrum is about Tk 38.43 billion," the BTRC Chairman said after the auctioning event was over.
"Earlier, we also received Tk 14.25 billion through tech-neutrality fee," Mahmood mentioned. "This means the government has earned around Tk 52.68 billion through this spectrum auction and tech-neutrality fee," he added.
The biggest gainer from Tuesday's auction in terms of spectrum was Banglalink which increased its spectrum allocation from 20 MHZ to 30.6 MHz. Meanwhile, the total spectrum of Grameenphone increased to 37MHz from 32Mhz.
Robi, which did not participate in the auctioning, will continue to have 36.4MHZ spectrum, still leading Banglalink by a significant margin.
However, the telecom regulator could sell only one-third of the total 46.4-megahertz spectrum put on auction yesterday while the rest two-thirds would still remain unused.
Terming the situation 'not satisfactory', the BTRC Chairman said the participating bidders can apply for additional spectrum in the respective bands within next six months.
"The enhanced spectrum from today's auction would enable us to provide better network quality-especially better 3G and 4G service," Banglalink's Eric Aas said following the auction.
"This additional spectrum combined with our tech-neutral spectrum has placed GP on a firm footing to provide the best 4G experience," said Michael Foloey, CEO of Grameenphone.
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