Sarwar Alam, secretary and spokesperson of the commission, told the Dhaka Tribune the drafting of a policy guideline to launch 4G services is underway and they are determined to award 4G licences shortly
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Tuesday said it will decide on either of the two issues – technology neutrality or 4G auction – by the end of this month.
According to a top BTRC official, there will be an important meeting by the end of this month chaired by its Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood. The meeting will finalise the issue.
The regulatory authority thinks if the licencing process is completed first, spectrum neutrality will be solved in due course.
Sarwar Alam, secretary and spokesperson of the commission, told the Dhaka Tribune the drafting of a policy guideline to launch 4G services is underway and they are determined to award 4G licences shortly.
In last February, BTRC called an urgent meeting that decided to draft a policy. It asked all the departments to place their proposals, which will later be sent to the ministry concerned for approval.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, ICT affairs adviser to the prime minister, also ordered that a quick step be taken to launch 4G at a recent meeting with Posts and Telecommunications Division at the Secretariat.
Initially, the telecom regulator would offer licence to four mobile operators while an option would remain open for a new entity in 4G licence. In that case, those who will get 4G licences will be eligible for spectrum auction. The price of licence fee will remain the same as 3G.
Now BTRC has 40MHz spectrum available. Earlier, it took several initiatives to sell unused spectrum at auction, but the initiatives failed as the operators were reluctant to participate in it.
If the regulatory authority fails to settle the tech neutrality or 4G auction issue with the mobile operators, 4G auction will hang in the balance this time also.
In 2013, the regulator conducted the 3G spectrum auction in which four private mobile phone companies took part. In the auction, Grameenphone took 10MHz spectrum while Banglalink, Robi and Airtel 5MHz spectrum each at the price of $21 million per MHz.
Welcoming the government initiative on 4G/LTE Ekram Kabir, vice-president, Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Robi Axiata Limited, said they hope that the government will conduct effective consultation with the industry players in formulating 4G/LTE Licencing Guideline, keeping in mind the National Telecom Policy objectives.
Spectrum is one of the basic and key requirements for launching 4G/LTE, he said, adding that hence the government should consider spectrum auction and technology neutrality in all existing bands prior to or at the same time of issuing the 4G/LTE Licence.
Without compatible mobile devices, consumers will not be able to experience the services, he cautioned.
According to Asif Ahmed, head of Corporate Communications, Banglalink, 4G is an integral part of Banglalink’s digital transformation promise.
The telecom operators want that technology neutrality be implemented beforehand, rather than announcing 4G auction to ensure quality services.
“We prefer to see technology neutrality introduced to ensure quality service and enhance customer experience,” said Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer, Grameenphone Ltd.
Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2017/03/22/either-tech-neutrality-4g-auction-march/