Private landline operator RanksTel won back approval from the telecom regulator on Sunday to resume operations after a 16-month shutdown.
A team of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission restored RanksTel’s licence and spectrum, after the operator withdrew the case it filed against the government.
RanksTel has refunded Tk 1.82 crore to the regulator in shared revenue and annual spectrum and utilisation charges. But unpaid interconnection charges with the mobile operators would be refunded after operations resume, said Abul K Shamsuddin, chief operating officer of RanksTel.
“RanksTel got back its licence after it paid all due charges,” said AKM Shahiduzzaman, director general of the legal and licensing division of BTRC.
The regulator will also return licences to four other PSTN (public switched telephone network) operators — Dhaka Phone, National Phone, PeoplesTel and WorldTel after they meet the conditions, Shahiduzzaman said.
The licences of five PSTN operators were cancelled in March last year due to allegations of illegal call termination activities.
RanksTel had almost 3 lakh subscribers and 450 employees last year. Now the company has no subscribers, but about 150 employees are still working there, said Shamsuddin.
After the ban, RanksTel had to suspend services to banks, hospitals, multinational companies and call-centers.
“But RanksTel has never missed its loan repayment installments with the banks,” said the RanksTel COO.
The time it would take to fully get back to operations is not yet sure, he said.
The company has 250 base transceivers (BTS) in 35 districts.
-With The Daily Star input
