Citycell pays Tk 100cr to BTRC for survival

Citycell yesterday paid Tk 100 crore to the telecom regulator -- a move which might help them avoid any further suspension of licence.

On November 3, the Supreme Court directed the operator to pay another Tk 100 crore to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission by November 19 or else its spectrum will be barred.

"We have complied with the court order and we are happy that we made the payment before the stipulated date," said Mehboob Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Citycell, the country's oldest mobile operator.

Citycell owes the BTRC Tk 477.69 crore, according to the telecom watchdog. But the operator disputes the figure.

It earlier paid Tk 130.19 crore to the BTRC along with Tk 14 crore as tax to the National Board of Revenue but it was not enough to save it from getting its spectrum suspended on November 6.

"We will now try to resolve the other issues and start planning a fresh start," the Citycell CEO said.

On its verdict, the apex court formed a three-member arbitrator committee headed by Jamilur Reza Choudhury, vice-chancellor of the University of Asia Pacific, to settle the issue between the BTRC and Citycell.

After the court order, the operator resumed its service but it could hardly run four base stations -- three in Dhaka and one in Chittagong. No customer switched back to the network since.