2G Renewal Fees
Three telcos pay final instalment, Citycell fails
Three mobile phone companies — Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi — paid Tk 1.658 crore in the final instalment of the 2G licence renewal fees to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Thursday. Citycell, however, failed to pay the dues.
BTRC officials said Grameenphone paid Tk 713 crore, Banglalink Tk 433 crore and Robi paid Tk 416 crore in the final instalment to the telecom regulator.
GP paid total Tk 3,241 crore in 2G licence renewal fees, Banglalink paid Tk 1,971 crore and Robi paid Tk 1,843 crore.
The BTRC officials said Citycell failed to pay the final instalment and the second instalment of Tk 130 crore was still due.
Company insiders said Citycell was going through a fund crisis because of dull business which was the main reason for the delay in payment.
Asked Citycell chief executive officer Mehboob Chowdhury said, ‘We are trying hard to pay the dues. It is taking some time but we are hopeful that we can clear it soon.’
In August 2012, the BTRC renewed the 2G licence of the four mobile phone operators for 15 years although the companies failed to pay full fees and charges.
Later, the telecom regulator asked the operators to pay the fees and charges in three instalments — 49 per cent in the first instalment, 29 per cent in the second and 22 per cent in the final instalment.
The BTRC renewed the licences of the companies amid pressure from the government although the regulator earlier insisted that the companies had to give at least second instalment of the fees and charges before getting their licences renewed.
The companies paid the first instalment of the fees and charges amounting to over Tk 7,500 crore in due time.
The four mobile operators, however, failed to pay their second instalment of Tk 3,100 crore by the deadline of August 1.
The BTRC, however, extended the deadline to August 31 due to pressure from the operators.
The BTRC officials said a legal battle between the National Board of Revenue and the mobile phone companies over the VAT rebate on 2G licence fees had also delayed the payment.
-With New Age input
