Licence renewal fee installment Three mobile cos deposit Tk 2,372cr in fees, VAT Mobile companies Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink on Thursday gave a total sum of Tk 2,372 crore to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission as the second instalment of licence renewal fee, spectrum charge and VAT. However Citycell submitted an application to the BTRC ... Read more
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Mobile operators yet to set 10-second pulse
According to industry insiders, the operators see the regulator’s directive as “not feasible” Instead of fixing a 10-second pulse for each call as per the directive of the telecom regulator, mobile phone operators in the country are still in competition to offer murky packages for pushing subscribers into using their discarded subscriber identity modules (SIM). ... Read more
BTRC making ready 700 MHz spectrum for mobile operators
The telecom regulator is reviewing the options for allocating 700 Megahertz (MHz) spectrum — considered the most valuable at present — for mobile operators. “We want to make the most out of the in-demand 700 MHz spectrum,” said Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
Four telcos set to get 2G licence renewed
After a stand-off with the BTRC for more than eight months, four mobile phone operators Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell will get their 2G licences renewed on Tuesday for the next 15 years. Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), said they have sent letters to the operators yesterday asking them to send ... Read more
Telecom policy up for review
The government is going to revise the existing telecommunications policy, by the end of this year, to adopt the state-of-the-art advancements in the telecommunications sector. The policy was formed in 1998, to chalk out a plan for the development of the telecommunication sector of Bangladesh. Sources with the ministry of post and telecommunications (MoPT) said ... Read more
VoIP licences set to fetch Tk 1,200cr
The government is expected to earn at least Tk. 1,200 crore revenue, each year, with the issuance of legal licences for voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) services, an official of Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said. To stop illegal use of VoIP, the telecom regulator has already invited applications for VoIP service provider (VSP)
BTRC to retrieve Tk 2250cr bandwidth from cell operators
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will be able to retrieve a total of 15 MHz of bandwidth worth Tk 2250 crore from different mobile operators after it completes the systematic re-arrangement of the bandwidth distribution in 1800 MHz band, sources at BTRC have said. 1800 MHz band is the portion of the radio frequency spectrum ... Read more
Guidelines for small telecom operators set
BTRC to regulate value-added services to subscribers The telecom regulator has finally formulated a draft of ‘Telecom VAS Operator Licensing Guidelines’ to regulate small and medium telecom businesses providing different telecom Value Added Service (VAS) to the subscribers. A total of 30 companies have been providing different telecom VAS including ringtones,
BTRC recommends five licences for 3G service
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Wednesday sent to the telecommunication ministry the draft guideline for awarding five licences for 3G mobile service. Of the five licences, the state-run Teletalk would get one while four other licences would be awarded to four private mobile phone operators, including any new operator, through
Telcos seek more time to pay licence renewal fees
Four mobile operators will not pay outstanding fees for their licence renewal before they receive the certified copies of the High Court’s verdict on the Grameenphone versus BTRC case. Officials of Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell yesterday met Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and expressed
Telcos puzzled by regulator’s new letter
Licence Renewal Fees Telcos puzzled by regulator’s new letter Four mobile telephone operators are confused over a letter from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission that asked them to pay a due amount and late fees for licence renewal. The BTRC on Wednesday asked Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell to deposit a combined amount of Tk 857.46 ... Read more
337 out of 426 call centres out of business
Lack of fluency in spoken English blamed After getting their licences only three and a half years ago, more than 80 per cent of the country’s call centres have gone out of business. This has created a void in the potential sector, which was supposed to fetch a considerable amount of foreign currency every year, ... Read more
Internet users kept at bay
Speed of Internet now as slow as a snail The absence of guidelines to ensure a fixed subscriber base under a certain bandwidth (Internet speed) has prompted internet service providers (ISPs) to provide too many connections, which has resulted in decreased speed at the subscriber’s end. Officials of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said they ... Read more
Cell operators given a shock
Telecoms regulator asks for new fee for old bandwidth Telecoms regulator yesterday sent letters to four mobile operators in the country asking them to pay spectrum charges and renewal fees and have their licences renewed for the next 15 years. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) also sought papers related to tax, VAT and VoIP from ... Read more
BTRC claim: GP seeks govt intervention
Mobile operator Grameen-phone yesterday sought the government’s intervention to resolve a dispute with the telecom regulator over unpaid revenue and tax. On Monday, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission asked the operator to pay Tk 3,034 crore in unpaid revenue, accumulated interest payment and
GP clears stand on regulator’s claim for Tk 3,034cr
Grameenphone yesterday refuted the claim of the regulator that the mobile operator will have to pay Tk 3,034 crore in unpaid revenue and tax. Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communications officer of the company, said they “strongly disagree” with the numbers the regulator has claimed in a letter sent to GP on
Teletalk likely to get BTRC nod this week
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is likely to award a temporary permission for operating a test-run of 3G mobile phone service to state-owned Teletalk, initially for a period of six months, ending weeks of tussle with the telecommunication ministry. A formal assurance in this regard is expected to come within a week, sources in BTRC
Earnings from telecom up 29pc
The government has earned Tk 3,061 crore from the telecommunication sector last fiscal year — a 29 percent rise from a year earlier. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently handed over the money to the government
Call drops irk mobile users
Mobile phone users have been facing bad voice services, like call drops, for quite some time. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) logged a number of complaints from subscribers of mobile operators, said an official of the commission. As the mobile operators are providing services beyond their capacity, call drops are ocurring — both
Internet price cut 16pc, market sees minor impact
Internet price has been slashed down by 16.66 percent and set at Tk 10,000 per megabits per second (Mbps) from Tk 12,000 before for leased internet access via submarine cable. But the cut in prices would have minor impact on the end users, as the operational cost is still high. In a notification, Bangladesh Telecommunication ... Read more