4 companies awarded mobile tower sharing licence

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has awarded four companies with license to share telecommunication towers.

The four companies are: edotco Bangladesh, Summit Towers, Kirtonkhola Tower Bangladesh and AB Hightech Consortium.

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology (ICT) MinisterMustafa Jabbar handed over the license to each awardee at the BTRC auditorium on Thursday.

BTRC acting chairman Jahurul Haque said mobile operators can no longer set up new towers or rent their tower to other operators.

Within one year the four companies that received the licence will have to set up their towers in all divisional cities, then all district cities in the second year, by third year in 30 percent of upazilas, 60 percent of upazilas in year four, and in the fifth year they must extend to all upazilas of the country, the acting chairman said.

The companies are paying Tk 25 crore to obtain the licence, while the annual renewal fee will be Tk 5 crore, he added.

Posts, Telecommunication Division secretary ShyamSunderSikder was also present on the occasion.