BTRC earns Tk 25b in Q1 of fiscal '09
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Naim-Ul-Kairm
The country's telecom regulatory body earned over Tk 25 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal allocating frequencies, awarding licenses and charging penalties.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said it managed to earn a record amount of money in the first quarter of the year by exploring untapped revenue sources in the telecom industry.
Talking to the FE last Monday, chairman of the commission Maj Gen (Retd.) Manzurul Alam said: "Earning over Tk 26.47 billion in the first quarter was possible as we worked hard to explore untapped revenue sources."
He further said the regulator's efforts to streamline the country's telecom industry also contributed to the robust growth in revenue earning in the first quarter.
Of the total earning, he said a large portion came from the allocation of frequencies to three cell phone operators--GrameenPhone, Banglalink and Aktel-- and awarding licenses of WiMAX to the Bangla Lion Communications, the BRAC BDmail Network Ltd and Augere Wireless Broadband Limited, Bangladesh and the state-owned Bangladesh Telecom Company (BTCL).
The BTRC allocated a total of 17.5 megaheartz (MHz) of frequencies to the cell phone operators charging Tk14 billion in total while it earned Tk 2.15 billion from each of four companies awarding WiMAX licences.
The cell phone operators paid Tk800 million for each MHz frequency Mr. Alam said, adding, the BTRC for the first time charged money for allocation of frequencies, which were allocated to cell phone operators free of cost in the past.
Of total frequencies, Grameen got 7.4 MHz, Banglalink 5.1MHz and AKTEL 5.0 MHz in addition to their existing frequencies. With this new addition, the amount of frequencies of Grameen will stand 21.4 MHz, Banglalink 17.5Mhz and AKTEL 17.8Mhz, which would help the companies expand their network further.
Apart from this, the BTRC chairman said it received around Tk1.32 billion as transfer fee of 30 per cent stake of Aktel to Japanese company NTT Docomo.
The BTRC realized Tk2.50 from GP for use of illegal VoIP and Tk500 million from Aktel for its involvement in false registration of SIM card, he said.
The rest amount of the total BTRC's earning in the first quarter came from issuance of licenses for operating call centers and different other sources of revenue.
The BTRC chairman said the commission expects to earn a record amount of money by end of the current fiscal as it will issue licesnes for running 3G mobile technology, Internet Protocol (IP) phone and setting another submarine cable network and others.
The country's telecom regulatory body earned over Tk 25 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal allocating frequencies, awarding licenses and charging penalties.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said it managed to earn a record amount of money in the first quarter of the year by exploring untapped revenue sources in the telecom industry.
Talking to the FE last Monday, chairman of the commission Maj Gen (Retd.) Manzurul Alam said: "Earning over Tk 26.47 billion in the first quarter was possible as we worked hard to explore untapped revenue sources."
He further said the regulator's efforts to streamline the country's telecom industry also contributed to the robust growth in revenue earning in the first quarter.
Of the total earning, he said a large portion came from the allocation of frequencies to three cell phone operators--GrameenPhone, Banglalink and Aktel-- and awarding licenses of WiMAX to the Bangla Lion Communications, the BRAC BDmail Network Ltd and Augere Wireless Broadband Limited, Bangladesh and the state-owned Bangladesh Telecom Company (BTCL).
The BTRC allocated a total of 17.5 megaheartz (MHz) of frequencies to the cell phone operators charging Tk14 billion in total while it earned Tk 2.15 billion from each of four companies awarding WiMAX licences.
The cell phone operators paid Tk800 million for each MHz frequency Mr. Alam said, adding, the BTRC for the first time charged money for allocation of frequencies, which were allocated to cell phone operators free of cost in the past.
Of total frequencies, Grameen got 7.4 MHz, Banglalink 5.1MHz and AKTEL 5.0 MHz in addition to their existing frequencies. With this new addition, the amount of frequencies of Grameen will stand 21.4 MHz, Banglalink 17.5Mhz and AKTEL 17.8Mhz, which would help the companies expand their network further.
Apart from this, the BTRC chairman said it received around Tk1.32 billion as transfer fee of 30 per cent stake of Aktel to Japanese company NTT Docomo.
The BTRC realized Tk2.50 from GP for use of illegal VoIP and Tk500 million from Aktel for its involvement in false registration of SIM card, he said.
The rest amount of the total BTRC's earning in the first quarter came from issuance of licenses for operating call centers and different other sources of revenue.
The BTRC chairman said the commission expects to earn a record amount of money by end of the current fiscal as it will issue licesnes for running 3G mobile technology, Internet Protocol (IP) phone and setting another submarine cable network and others.