The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has made obtaining its licence a must for any satellite business entity for providing services in the country.
So, overseas satellite operators or entities which were providing services, including satellite internet access service, to their clients in Bangladesh would not be allowed to continue operations in the country without getting a licence from the BTRC, an official of the commission told New Age on Saturday.
The official said that the BTRC issued the Regulatory and Licensing Guidelines for Satellite Operation in Bangladesh on January 2 and the guidelines mention the rule.
The telecom regulatory commission’s guidelines have come at a time when a substantial portion of capacity of the country’s lone state-owned satellite, Bangabandhu Satellite 1, remains unsold or unutilised.
Section 5 of the guidelines said, ‘Initially the licensee shall operate and lease its own transponder capacity.’
‘To provide service through rented transponder, prior permission from the commission is required,’ it said.
‘If the licensee takes initiative to launch further satellites, it will have to take written prior approval from the commission for providing services through new satellite,’ it said.
‘No person or business entity shall be allowed to establish, operate and maintain satellite systems and services without a valid licence issued by the commission,’ the guidelines said.
The BTRC set the licensing fee for the private satellite operators at Tk 25 crore, annual licensing fee at Tk 5 crore, up to 2 per cent revenue sharing and a provision of 1 per cent revenue sharing with the regulatory body, among others.
However, a clause in the guidelines has authorised the government to make decision on the fees and charges in the case of state-owned satellite companies.
Section 9 of the guidelines has outlined the applicable fees and charges to any satellite company.
Subsection 4 of Section 9 said, ‘The government may take decision time to time in case of state-owned satellite company.’
Asked whether the Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited, the operating entity of Bangabandhu-1, will have to take licence, another official of the commission said that the BSCL is supposed to take licence as the guidelines have made it a must.
All the country’s television channel is now using service of Bangabandhu Satellite-1. The satellite was launched in May 12, 2018 at the cost of Tk 2,702 crore.
According to BSCL, the company generated Tk 37.55 crore in revenue in the fiscal year 2019-2020 by providing services to 33 TV stations.
Against the earnings, the company’s operating expense was Tk 20.38 crore in the fiscal year under consideration.
In the fiscal year 2018-2019, the BSCL incurred Tk 14.78 crore in operating losses and in FY 2019-20, it made Tk 17.17 crore in operating profits.
Meanwhile, the government has initiated a move to launch another satellite by 2023.
To this end, the BSCL on January 19, 2021 assigned multinational consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory as a consultant for the launch of the country’s second satellite.
In the regulatory and licensing guidelines on satellite operations, the commission mentioned that it would issue licences for a period of 15 years.
Under the guidelines, the local and foreign companies would be get licence from the commission.
The licences would provide direct to home (DTH), cable TV, backhaul connectivity and emergency telecommunication, satellite internet for broadband services, digital services, VSAT or VSAT hub services and any other services approved by the commission.
Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/159465/licence-must-for-firms-to-provide-satellite-services