The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (BTRC) sold unused waves worth Tk. 3,093.85 crore at auction. Although Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi were able to buy waves by participating in the auction, Teletalk could not.
The auction was organized by BTRC with the aim of selling 7.4 MHz of the 1800 MHz band and 20 MHz of the 2100 MHz band. Out of 1800 MHz, Grameenphone got 0.4 MHz, Banglalink got 4.4 MHz and Robi got 2.4 MHz.
In the 2100 MHz band, Banglalink got 5 MHz, Grameenphone got 10 MHz and Robi got 5 MHz. The total spectrum of Grameenphone stood at 47.4 MHz, Robi at 44 MHz and Banglalink at 40 MHz.
The auction of BTRC started at 11 am on Monday (March 8) at Hotel Intercontinental in the capital. It continued till half past eight at night. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar, who was present as the chief guest at the auction, gave details. Among others, the Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Division Afzal Hossain, BTRC Chairman Shyam Sundar Sikder and others were present.
Mustafa Jabbar said, "You have heard that the auction of spectrum has been allotted for a period of 15 years." But we can't give for 15 years initially. The reason is that their license is valid till 2026. So initially we will give them the spectrum till 2027. The rest of the spectrums will be given at this price when their license is renewed later.
He said the total auction of spectrum was Tk. 2878 crore. With this, VAT will be added Tk. 215.85 crore. The total will be 3,093.85 crore.
Address of elcome was made by AKM Shahiduzzaman, Commissioner Engineer, Spectrum Division of BTRC. Representatives of the mobile operators expressed their views at the auction. Earlier, the last spectrum auction was held on February 13, 2018.