Mobile operators may share 5.5 percent of their revenue with the government for their 4G services, officials said.
Following the advice of Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission has decided to bring down the share to 5.5 percent from 15 percent proposed earlier.
“We think revenue sharing for 4G services should be exactly like the present structure,” BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said after a commission meeting yesterday, when the decision was taken.
At present, mobile operators share 5.5 percent of their revenue from 2G and 3G services with the telecom watchdog. In addition, they forward 1 percent of their gross revenue to the social obligation fund.
The development will bring a sigh of relief for mobile operators, who were aggrieved by the telecom regulator's proposal to hike the spectrum prices and revenue sharing percentage for 4G services as it would make the technology commercially unviable.
The Global System for Mobile Association, a union of mobile operators worldwide, earlier this month urged the government to reconsider its decision.
In its original proposal, the BTRC has recommended Tk 15 crore as licence fees for 15 years and another Tk 7.5 crore as annual fees, both of which will remain the same in the amended recommendation that will be sent to the telecom division shortly.
Earlier in April, the BTRC had sent its guideline on 4G services to the telecom division and in a meeting with industry stakeholders Joy pushed for a lower revenue-sharing quotient for the telecom watchdog, said another top official of BTRC.
“In line with that meeting's decision we are changing our recommendation,” said the official, who was present at yesterday's commission meeting.
The BTRC's commission meeting will resume again today to finalise the spectrum prices for the next auction. The spectrum division has proposed three prices for three separate bands, he said.
For the 2100 band the floor price recommended for per megahertz is $27 million, for 900 band $28 million and for 1800 band $35 million.
The operators, who currently enjoy technology neutrality in the 2100 band, will be able to do so in the 900 and 1800 bands as well after the auction.
Technology neutrality allows operators to offer any service in any band, which will reduce the operators' cost of doing business and improve service quality.
The BTRC has 15 MHz of unsold spectrum in the 2100 band, 10.6 MHz in the 1800 band and some spectrum in the 900 band that was released by Airtel after its merger with Robi. “The spectrum prices are yet to be fixed but definitely they will be much higher than the rate at which it went previously,” Mahmood said.
In 2013, the BTRC sold spectrum on the 2100 band for $21 million.
The mobile operators have already tested their network for 4G services in the 2100 band and got a reasonable 50 to 100 Mbps of speed for both uploads and downloads. The BTRC has also proposed Tk 150 crore as bank performance guarantee, which has to be paid in two separate segments: Tk 75 crore as rollout obligation and another Tk 75 crore to clear future dues, if any.
Under the rollout obligation, the operators will have to take 4G network to all divisional headquarters within the first nine months of getting the licence and to district headquarters within 18 months, according to the guideline.
They will get a total of three years to complete their rollout of 4G service across the country. If the operators comply with the obligations, they will get a refund of Tk 25 crore in each segment.
“After getting the approval we will offer 4G licences to existing operators, who will be able to launch 4G services within a couple of months,” Mahmood said.
Currently, 4G services are available in all the neighbouring countries. As of February there are around 6.67 crore mobile internet users in Bangladesh, 3 crore of whom use 3G services.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/telcos-may-share-55pc-revenue-4g-services-1412284