BTRC issues final guidelines for awarding licences to pvt sector
Monday, 1 December 2008
FE Report
Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commi-ssion (BTRC) Sunday issued the final guidelines of the National Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) for private sector applicants seeking licence for conducting business.
Under the guidelines, the BTRC will issue licences to bonafide firms and individuals allowing them to build, operate and maintain nationwide optical fibre telecommunication network.
"Any interested person or legal entity complying with the terms and conditions of the guidelines may apply for the licence," it said, adding there is no time limit for collecting and submitting applications, the fee of which will be Tk 50, 000.
The licence acquisition fee for NTTN services will be Tk 30 million while its annual acquisition fee will be Tk 2.5 million, said the guideline.
The final guideline of NTTN is available on the web site of the BTRC, which is www.btrc.gov.bd.
Apart from helping expansion of telecommunication network across the country, the BTRC said appointment of private sector businesses for building, operating and maintaining nationwide optical fibre telecommunication network will also gradually help to remove the use of overhead cables in the cities and towns.
"Telecommunication network across the country will further be expanded after issuance of licenses for providing NTTN services," the BTRC chairman Maj Gen (retd) Manzurul Alam said.
He said the nationwide coordinated network expansion will help connect more people in remote areas come under the net of telecommunication and internet.
"This will immensely help to increase penetration of Internet."
The BTRC said the license recipients under the NTTN guideline will be able to provide connection up to backbone network and 'end users'.
A licensee will require submitting a bank guarantee as security deposit worth Tk.100 million in favour of the BTRC within 15 days of issuance of license with minimum validity of five years, it said.
The duration of the license will be initially for a term of 15 years.
According to the guidelines, foreign equity of any applicant firm will be limited to 60 per cent. It said the overseas partner shall directly invest in foreign currency equal to his percentage of ownership and no bank loan from any Bangladeshi scheduled bank or financial institution or leasing company can be raised for the overseas part of the investment.
For the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) a maximum of 70 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment will be allowed but no loans can be raised locally from any financial institution. A partnership/consortium of Non Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) and foreign equity without Bangladeshi partners will not be allowed, the BTRC said.
The Access Network Service (ANS) operators having licenses from the commission and any of its shareholders, foreign or local, will not be eligible to apply for the license.
Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commi-ssion (BTRC) Sunday issued the final guidelines of the National Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) for private sector applicants seeking licence for conducting business.
Under the guidelines, the BTRC will issue licences to bonafide firms and individuals allowing them to build, operate and maintain nationwide optical fibre telecommunication network.
"Any interested person or legal entity complying with the terms and conditions of the guidelines may apply for the licence," it said, adding there is no time limit for collecting and submitting applications, the fee of which will be Tk 50, 000.
The licence acquisition fee for NTTN services will be Tk 30 million while its annual acquisition fee will be Tk 2.5 million, said the guideline.
The final guideline of NTTN is available on the web site of the BTRC, which is www.btrc.gov.bd.
Apart from helping expansion of telecommunication network across the country, the BTRC said appointment of private sector businesses for building, operating and maintaining nationwide optical fibre telecommunication network will also gradually help to remove the use of overhead cables in the cities and towns.
"Telecommunication network across the country will further be expanded after issuance of licenses for providing NTTN services," the BTRC chairman Maj Gen (retd) Manzurul Alam said.
He said the nationwide coordinated network expansion will help connect more people in remote areas come under the net of telecommunication and internet.
"This will immensely help to increase penetration of Internet."
The BTRC said the license recipients under the NTTN guideline will be able to provide connection up to backbone network and 'end users'.
A licensee will require submitting a bank guarantee as security deposit worth Tk.100 million in favour of the BTRC within 15 days of issuance of license with minimum validity of five years, it said.
The duration of the license will be initially for a term of 15 years.
According to the guidelines, foreign equity of any applicant firm will be limited to 60 per cent. It said the overseas partner shall directly invest in foreign currency equal to his percentage of ownership and no bank loan from any Bangladeshi scheduled bank or financial institution or leasing company can be raised for the overseas part of the investment.
For the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) a maximum of 70 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment will be allowed but no loans can be raised locally from any financial institution. A partnership/consortium of Non Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) and foreign equity without Bangladeshi partners will not be allowed, the BTRC said.
The Access Network Service (ANS) operators having licenses from the commission and any of its shareholders, foreign or local, will not be eligible to apply for the license.