Thrust on exploring newer areas of infrastructure sharing
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
FE Report
Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Zia Ahmed has called the country's telecom operators for exploring newer areas of infrastructure sharing for better economization of resources to offer low cost service to the customers.
"The recent regulatory move of BTRC has opened the way for infrastructure sharing between the telecom operators", Zia Ahmed said at a press conference in the city Tuesday.
"Now, it is time for all the major players to explore new areas of infrastructure sharing with a view to decrease expenses and to offer services to the customers at a lower cost", he added.
His views came days after Grameenphone- the country's largest telecom operator teamed up with fellow operators Banglalink and AKTEL for necessary infrastructure sharing between themselves.
"Apart from the sharing of cell sites, telecom companies can share other infrastructures like optical fiber", the BTRC Chairman said, adding such move would be a great step towards better utilization of resources.
"In a country like Bangladesh, where there is a great scarcity of land and other resources, such infrastructure sharing could be quite an essential move", he said.
The BTRC boss was also supportive of attracting foreign investment in the sector and highlighted the recent regulatory move for creating an investment-friendly environment to that end.
"Lately, we have taken necessary steps to remove the provision of share transfer fee and other unnecessary preconditions, the apparent barriers in bringing new investment in this sector", Zia said.
"In the near future, we would bring more submarine cables and terrestrial cables while 3G will also be introduced soon. So, there will be opportunities for further investment in the telecom sector in the future", he added.
Earlier speaking on the occasion, top officials of Grameenphone and Banglalink explained their motives and vision for coming into such collaboration; terming the move as the creation of a level playing field between the operators.
This turned out to be the first time in Bangladesh that two mobile operators joined hands together in this sort of infrastructure sharing arrangement. Although, days later GP came to such accord with AKTEL- another top mobile operator as well.
"This agreement would allow consolidation of our costs both in terms of operational expenses and capital expenses" said Oddvar Hesjedal, Chief Executive Officer of Grameenphone., "This would enable us in investing in improving subscriber needs with more sophisticated services".
"Simultaneously, Bang-lalink would be able to extend their network and as such bring their services to the rural areas which are still largely an untapped market for us", Banglalink CEO Ahmed Abou Doma said.
Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Zia Ahmed has called the country's telecom operators for exploring newer areas of infrastructure sharing for better economization of resources to offer low cost service to the customers.
"The recent regulatory move of BTRC has opened the way for infrastructure sharing between the telecom operators", Zia Ahmed said at a press conference in the city Tuesday.
"Now, it is time for all the major players to explore new areas of infrastructure sharing with a view to decrease expenses and to offer services to the customers at a lower cost", he added.
His views came days after Grameenphone- the country's largest telecom operator teamed up with fellow operators Banglalink and AKTEL for necessary infrastructure sharing between themselves.
"Apart from the sharing of cell sites, telecom companies can share other infrastructures like optical fiber", the BTRC Chairman said, adding such move would be a great step towards better utilization of resources.
"In a country like Bangladesh, where there is a great scarcity of land and other resources, such infrastructure sharing could be quite an essential move", he said.
The BTRC boss was also supportive of attracting foreign investment in the sector and highlighted the recent regulatory move for creating an investment-friendly environment to that end.
"Lately, we have taken necessary steps to remove the provision of share transfer fee and other unnecessary preconditions, the apparent barriers in bringing new investment in this sector", Zia said.
"In the near future, we would bring more submarine cables and terrestrial cables while 3G will also be introduced soon. So, there will be opportunities for further investment in the telecom sector in the future", he added.
Earlier speaking on the occasion, top officials of Grameenphone and Banglalink explained their motives and vision for coming into such collaboration; terming the move as the creation of a level playing field between the operators.
This turned out to be the first time in Bangladesh that two mobile operators joined hands together in this sort of infrastructure sharing arrangement. Although, days later GP came to such accord with AKTEL- another top mobile operator as well.
"This agreement would allow consolidation of our costs both in terms of operational expenses and capital expenses" said Oddvar Hesjedal, Chief Executive Officer of Grameenphone., "This would enable us in investing in improving subscriber needs with more sophisticated services".
"Simultaneously, Bang-lalink would be able to extend their network and as such bring their services to the rural areas which are still largely an untapped market for us", Banglalink CEO Ahmed Abou Doma said.