Telcos\\\' mixed reactions over regulator\\\'s move

The telecom regulator's move to introduce mandatory tower sharing mechanism has sparked mixed reactions among the country's mobile phone companies.
Bangladesh Telecomm-unication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently approved the guidelines for tower sharing licences, paving the way for a third party to develop and control mobile network infrastructure.
The leading cell-phone operator, Grameenphone (GP), has termed the fresh initiative a major barrier to ensuring operational efficiency and expected network roll-out.
It also says network construction cost will increase as the third party will do business. Besides, the operators might lose flexibility while selecting an appropriate footprint for their tower set-up.
"Currently, we're significantly sharing our mobile towers among the operators," said chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone Mahmud Hossain.
He said the operators have been sharing some 40 to 50 per cent towers developed since 2008 when the regulator introduced the passive network sharing guidelines. He said previously, there were no such guidelines to share the network.
"It's true, there is more scope for the companies to share their towers which is possible under the existing rules," the senior GP official said adding that there are some constraints including commercial power crisis, planning parameter mismatch and non-cooperation from the house owners.
However, Mr Hossain said if the regulator wants to allow the third party system, it must keep flexibility for the operators to join and should also allow them to develop towers by themselves.  
"We aren't against licensing of the tower company. But, we believe that for the smooth roll-out of the network and better efficiency of our operations, the operators should be allowed to build their own networks, " he said.
Meanwhile, Robi said it had always underscored the need for tower sharing among the mobile operators. "Although the BTRC came with the initiative lately, we appreciate the move," said Robi spokesman Ekram Kabir.
He said the company also appreciates the guidelines that keep a provision of mandatory sharing of towers.
"The move will help save a good amount of foreign currency for the country," the senior official of the telephony firm said adding that now they will need to import fewer equipment for this purpose.
He said if the operators don't share the networks among them, then the number of towers will be almost double by 2020.
When contacted, telecom expert Abu Saeed Khan told the FE that infrastructure sharing is a well-recognised issue across the world, thus the BTRC's move is praiseworthy.
"However, this sharing must be market-driven and the policy should allow the operators flexibility while sharing their towers," the senior telecom policy analyst said.
The guidelines, approved in a recent meeting of the BTRC, will allow not more than two companies to take control of mobile network maintenance and roll-out across the country.
"We've approved the tower sharing guidelines to ensure optimum use of network infrastructure and reduce radiation," the commission secretary Md Sarwar Alam said.
He said the commission will send the guidelines to the ministry of posts, telecommunications and information technology soon for its approval.
Mr Alam said the commission devised the guidelines after analysing the country's existing mobile network situation, infrastructure sharing model of neighbouring countries and other related aspects.
Sharing will save a sizable amount of agricultural and other useful lands from tower-related use.
Statistics available at the BTRC shows, out of 26,400 towers across the country, only 15-16 per cent of the network is being shared among mobile operators and the regulator has termed it 'very poor'.  
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