Telecom ministry resolves two disputed issues

The telecom ministry at last resolved two disputed issues relating to fixation of licence acquisition fee and spectrum allocation criteria, paving the way for issuing new WiMAX licences for broadband internet services.

Following the development, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is going to issue WiMAX licence in favour of the already selected Russian company Ollo, official said.

 Tk 2.46 billion has been fixed as the licence acquisition fee along with 20MHz spectrum in 2600 band for the new licence.

A joint venture of Bangladesh Internet Exchange Limited (BIEL) and New Generation Graphics Limited (NGGL), Ollo will be the third WiMAX operator in the country after Banglalion and Qubee.

Sources said Ollo will provide broadband internet service using spectrum of 2600 band. The band is suitable for LTE (long-term evolution) service, which will enable the people to experience faster internet service.

However, the mobile phone operators opposed the recent amendment of the broadband wireless access (BWA) guideline which gave the opportunity to the WIMAX operators to acquire spectrum from any band.

The operators under the banner of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) in a letter told the telecom ministry that the amendment would create uneven licensing regime in the country.

AMTOB said the mobile phone operators were investing huge amount of money in 3G and 4G; but the BWA operators were being allowed to use such spectrum at lower price. The market would be unstable, the organisation said.

An official of the BTRC said the commission will work as per the direction of the government.

He said, "Allegations can come from any sector, but the government will give decision after considering the overall situation."

"Times have changed - once the operators were allocated spectrum free of cost for 15 years. Now they are paying for the spectrum," he added.