The telecom regulator has finalised the draft licence renewal guidelines for the telecom sector, under which the four major operators are likely to pay a combined Tk 14,000 crore for licence renewal next year.
The renewal fee for the four operators, whose licence will expire next year, will be Tk 10 crore each, according to the renewed guidelines drafted at a meeting of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Tuesday.
The four operators — Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell — will have to pay a combined Tk 28,000 crore as frequency charge during licence renewal.
Under the new guidelines, the renewed licence will be issued for a period of 15 years and the operators will have to pay the licence fees based on their revenue earnings over that time, BTRC officials said.
The regulator yesterday sent the draft guidelines to the post and telecommunication ministry for review.
“According to the new rules, the mobile operators will have to share 15 percent of their total revenue earnings over the next 15 years,” said the BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed.
“A half of this amount would have to paid during licence renewal next year, and the rest would be paid in phases in the next 14 years.”
As a result of the new directive, it is estimated that Grameenphone has to pay around Tk 7,000 crore during licence renewal next year, while Robi and Banglalink would each pay around Tk 3,000 crore and Citycell around Tk 1,000 crore.
Earlier, the committee formed to take a decision on licence renewal for the telecom operators recommended a renewal fee of Tk 350 crore each.
But later it was decided to take into account the frequency charge that is determined by the revenue per user and subscriber base of the mobile operators over the last 14 years.
Under the new calculation, around Tk 28,000 crore would be collected from the four operators over 15 years, out of which, Tk 14,000 crore would be collected initially.
