Spectrum, the exclusive airwave frequency, may remain unsold at the upcoming auction depriving the government of large-scale revenue earnings and the users of getting desired quality services, market players said.
They said the proposed base price of the spectrum is too high compared to prices of the neighbouring countries like India and Pakistan, and if the price couldn't be revised, majority of operators might finally avoid the auction, slated for April 30 next.
"If the spectrum price remains unrevised, it won't attract investors to buy more spectrum, which may lead to a situation, where spectrum will remain unsold as it so happened previously," said Robi's spokesman Mohiuddin Babar.
He said because of the high pricing of 2100MHz for third generation (3G) service offered in 2013 through auction, the spectrum was left unsold as the operators mostly acquired mandatory airwaves, which were set by the telecom regulator.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recently approved the draft guidelines prepared by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) that proposed US$ 30 million as the base price for per mega hertz in 1800 band and $ 22 million for per mega hertz in 2100 band.
The guidelines also barred the country's largest mobile operator, Grameenphone (GP), from participating in 1800MHz auction.
According to the rules, only operators with less than 20MHz in the 900MHz and 1800GHz bands are eligible for the first round. If the spectrum remains unsold after the first round, GP can participate in the second round.
The government has set a target to earn Tk 5.0 billion through selling the remaining spectrum -- 15MHz in 2100 band and 10.6MHz in 1800 slot. Â
Mr Babar said the government can sell more spectrum at attractive prices with stringent roll-out obligations through a relaxed payment schedule instead of selling less spectrum at high price.
The spokesman of Robi, the second largest cellular phone operator in terms of revenue earnings, said the spectrum price should be fixed on the revenue earning potential utilising a particular band of spectrum and scope of business.
"In Bangladesh tax burden on Telco is twice those of other regional countries which has an adverse impact on profitability of the mobile network operators (MNOs)," Babar noted.
He said if the total spectrum holding varies significantly amongst the players, the market may get monopolistic in the long run.
"Hence, the government is requested to take this into consideration during the fixation of base price and setting eligibility criteria to participate in the auction," he noted.
"If spectrum price exceeds the affordable limit of some players, it might introduce competitive distortion as it reduces their capability to compete effectively in the market," he said.
In the guidelines, BTRC said the winning companies shall submit 60 per cent of the total spectrum assignment fee through the recommended account as Bid Deposit within 30 days of Gregorian calendar while the remaining fees could be paid through two instalments -- 20 per cent within 365 days and other 20 per cent within 730 days after the auction results. Â
Banglalink, the second largest operator in terms of the subscriber base in the country, said they are yet to decide whether they will participate in the upcoming auction or not. "We can't speak anything more in this connection", the Banglalink spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the country's lone CDMA operator Citycell said they would like to participate in the auction for the GSM spectrum. "We are hopeful of participating in the auction," said the company's spokesman. Â
However, the Citycell said the base price is too high and requested the government to revise the proposed price to facilitate relatively small operators participating in the auction.
Meanwhile, the leading telecom operator GP accused the authorities concerned for barring the company from taking part in the auction, which it claims to be 'intentional'. The GP officials said as they possess larger subscribers, they require more spectrum.
"But, the authorities intentionally barred us from participating in the auction," the official said preferring anonymity.
   khairulislamdu@gmail.com
Large-scale revenue loss of govt feared
Khairul Islam | Published: March 01, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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