Won’t permit telcos to streamline network capacity
The telecom regulator is planning to allow new independent companies to set up mobile towers and network infrastructure in a bid to streamline network capacity, said officials concerned. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials said the regulator was now formulating a guideline for new network developing and sharing model. ‘Now the mobile operators build their own towers and share network with other operators when they need. Under the new guideline new independent companies will build the towers for the operators,’ a senior BTRC official told New Age on Sunday.
He said the mobile operators would have to share network of the new companies rather building their own.
‘For example, in a place where no operators have the network the new companies will ask for requirement of the operators and build a single tower which everyone will use. Now operators build their own towers; so we have so many towers at the same place which is hazardous and a health concern,’ the official said.
He said after the formulation of the new guideline the entire mobile network of the country would be managed by dedicated companies.
‘It will reduce the tower number and ensure better maintenance,’ he said.
Another BTRC official said the mobile companies are forming subsidiaries for network installation which worries the commission.
‘If all the mobile operators form subsidiaries to grab the network development business, then again there will be a chaotic situation,’ he said.
The official said the commission might allow few companies to develop the telecom network to streamline it.
The BTRC in last year amended the Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network guideline which allowed the mobile and WiMAX operators to enter into the network development business by forming subsidiaries.
BTRC officials said after the amendment of the guideline mobile operators started forming subsidiaries to grab the network business.
Currently two operators — Fiber@Home Limited and Summit Communication — are NTTN licensees who obtained the permission from the BTRC in 2009.
The NTTN operators are authorised to develop and maintain any kind of network infrastructure across the country. The mobile phone operators and others have to rent or lease the infrastructure from the NTTN operators for network coverage.
-With New Age input
