Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued a recruitment advert for 18 senior executives to run businesses generated from Bangladesh's first commercial and broadcast satellite Bangabandhu-1 through a company, which is yet to be formed.
BTRC had sent a proposal to the telecom division over one year ago to form Bangabandhu Satellite Communication Bangladesh Company Limited for relevant business management.
“We are waiting for the government's steps,” said BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood.
Bangabandhu-1 is scheduled to be launched from Florida by the end of this year or early next year and then run commercially by June.
State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim earlier said over 85 percent of the construction was complete.
The process for the recruitment, the first of its kind, gained momentum after Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy went tough on the management issue during a recent meeting with the telecommunication division, said a senior official.
Project officials said the company's formation was almost at the final stage.
The 18 posts are for two satellite engineers, one mission engineer, two network engineers, four satellite controllers, five monitoring and control operators, two computer engineers and two ground station maintainers.
They will be provided relevant training abroad, said the official.
The government plans to launch at least two more satellites under this company and so more manpower would need to be hired to market products both at home and abroad. BTRC has already applied for three more orbital slots from International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations.
In November 2015, BTRC signed a deal with French aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space to design, build and launch Bangabandhu-1 for Tk 2,967 crore.
Local representative of Thales have constructed two ground handling stations at Gazipur and Rangamati where sophisticated equipment will be installed within a short time.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/btrc-looking-officials-run-satellite-company-1425253