The government of Bangladesh will begin a process today to shut down the country’s oldest mobile operator, CDMA-based CityCell, for non-payment of dues, according to an announcement from State Minister for Telecommunications Tarana Halim at a press conference held at her ministry office yesterday, reports the Daily Star. ‘CityCell has defaulted on its dues with the government despite several reminders and so we reached the decision,’ she said, whilst asking all CityCell subscribers to switch to another operator by 23 August, having extended the deadline from the previously announced date of 16 August. CityCell – part-owned by Singtel of Singapore – had been issued a final warning to pay all its dues worth BDT4.77 billion (USD60.7 million) by 16 August. Another local report, from Businessnews24bd.com, says that the government has now cancelled CityCell’s operating licence.