BTRC's spectrum auction: Govt earns around Tk 30b

BTRC organised 1800/2100 MHz wave band auction at capital's Hotel Intercontinental on Monday, emphasising the rapidly changing telecommunications sector, customer mobility and increasing demand for higher data, reports UNB.

Posts and telecommunications minister Mustafa Jabbar was present as the chief guest on the occasion. BTRC chairman Shyam Sundar Sikder and department of posts and telecommunications secretary Md Afzal Hossain also spoke at the occasion.

In the presence of the concerned officials of four mobile operators of the country- Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Teletalk, the auction of spectrum started at 11:00am. The base price for this year's auction was based on the sale price of the 2018 auction with the prior approval of the government. This year the government's income including VAT will be around Tk 30 billion.

The 12-hour-long auction was presided over by commissioner of spectrum division AKM Shahiduzzaman. Telecom operators Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink brought bandwaves of different lengths. Teletalk participated in the auction but was not able to buy any.

Grameenphone's current wave in the 2100 MHz band increased from 10 MHz to 20 MHz, current wave of Robi in the 2100 MHz band increased from 10 MHz to 15 MHz and the current wave of Banglalink in the 2100 MHz band increased from 10 MHz to 15.0 MHz.

Jens Becker, acting CEO and CFO of Grameenphone, said, "This spectrum award is important for Grameenphone to further support the national digitalization agenda of Bangladesh and empower more people all across Bangladesh with access to 4G. With this additional capacity we will be able to meet people's growing need for high-speedinternet and support the uptake of digital services in urban as well as rural areas."

Excited about acquiring the spectrum, Erik Aas, chief executive officer, Banglalink said, "Banglalink's acquisition of this additional spectrum is yet another landmark in our endeavor to serve our customers as a digital service provider.

Teletalk participated in a very competitive auction in the 2100 MHz band but could not buy any waves in the end. So, in the 2100 MHz band, they have to continue using Teletalk's current wave of 10 MHz.

Operators will be able to provide service on the allocated wave from 9 April 2021. BTRC hopes that allocating waves will increase the quality of mobile telecommunications.