BTTB to become a Tk 30b plc
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Shakhawat Hossain
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) has drafted a proposal to convert the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) into a public limited company with an authorised capital of Tk 30 billion.
"The proposed draft, to be sent for approval of the advisory council in the current month, has recommend for 300 million shares worth Tk 100 each," said a senior ministry official.
The BTTB will be renamed as the Bangladesh Telecom Company Limited (BTCL) according to the draft proposal.
The new entity will be a fully state-owned public limited company with total financial autonomy, the official said.
The official said the new company will apply to the Registrar of Joint Stock of Companies to operate in accordance to the Bangladesh Companies Act 1994 provided the advisory council approved the proposal.
The decision of turning the BTTB, having a client-base of 1.0 million, into a public limited company has been taken as part of a plan to restructure the state-owned enterprises.
The restructuring is aimed at enhancing BTTB operational efficiency and increasing the number of land phone connections in Bangladesh.
BTTB's annual revenue earnings is about Tk 15 billion on an average.
But the dependency on the government for its operational cost and to carry out expansion projects often leads to disagreement with the bureaucracy.
The proposed new company will have a nine-member board with the telecom secretary as the chairman and managing director of the company as member secretary of the board.
Almost one third of the existing 15,000 employees of the BTTB may face redundancy although the organogram of the new company is yet to be completed by the consultant, sources said.
The government appointed Detecon International, a Germany-based consulting firm, in September 2005 to prepare a restructured model for the BBTB to turn it into a public limited company.
The consulting firm has already completed a marketing plan, strategies and a business model for the new company.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) has drafted a proposal to convert the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) into a public limited company with an authorised capital of Tk 30 billion.
"The proposed draft, to be sent for approval of the advisory council in the current month, has recommend for 300 million shares worth Tk 100 each," said a senior ministry official.
The BTTB will be renamed as the Bangladesh Telecom Company Limited (BTCL) according to the draft proposal.
The new entity will be a fully state-owned public limited company with total financial autonomy, the official said.
The official said the new company will apply to the Registrar of Joint Stock of Companies to operate in accordance to the Bangladesh Companies Act 1994 provided the advisory council approved the proposal.
The decision of turning the BTTB, having a client-base of 1.0 million, into a public limited company has been taken as part of a plan to restructure the state-owned enterprises.
The restructuring is aimed at enhancing BTTB operational efficiency and increasing the number of land phone connections in Bangladesh.
BTTB's annual revenue earnings is about Tk 15 billion on an average.
But the dependency on the government for its operational cost and to carry out expansion projects often leads to disagreement with the bureaucracy.
The proposed new company will have a nine-member board with the telecom secretary as the chairman and managing director of the company as member secretary of the board.
Almost one third of the existing 15,000 employees of the BTTB may face redundancy although the organogram of the new company is yet to be completed by the consultant, sources said.
The government appointed Detecon International, a Germany-based consulting firm, in September 2005 to prepare a restructured model for the BBTB to turn it into a public limited company.
The consulting firm has already completed a marketing plan, strategies and a business model for the new company.