Spectrum auction deferred again

The spectrum auction for both the 1,800 and 2,100 bands has been deferred for the third time now and the new date has been fixed for June 10, as the telecom regulator recommended amendments to the guideline yesterday. The final guideline will be made public once it receives approval.The auction was first scheduled for April 30 and rescheduled twice to May 20 and May 27.

The top mobile phone operators are not willing to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction before the SIM replacement tax issue, involving more than Tk 2,000 crore, is resolved. For this reason, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has decided to make the auction open for all telecom operators, to make it more competitive.

Earlier, the regulator had formulated auction guidelines that only allowed existing mobile phone operators to participate.

"We sent the amended proposal to the telecom ministry today (yesterday)," said Md Abdus Samad, commissioner of the legal and licence wing of the BTRC.

Samad, also the chairman of the spectrum auction organising committee, said they rescheduled the dates for their convenience and to arrange a participatory and competitive bid. As per the proposed schedule, interested operators can submit auction applications till May 24, which was earlier scheduled for May 5, said Md Sarwar Alam, secretary of the BTRC.

According to the decision, the regulator will publish a list of the names of the qualified applicants on May 26 and June 4 will be the last date to submit the earnest money -- Tk 150 crore -- for attending the two auctions for both bands.

Operators welcomed the rescheduling of the auction, but doubted if 20 days would be enough to resolve the issues. 

"We should request the relevant authorities, including the BTRC, to expedite the process," said a senior executive of a mobile phone operator, seeking anonymity.

The official is hopeful that the government will take the issues seriously to involve the mobile phone operators as important partners in building a 'Digital Bangladesh'.

Grameenphone, the market leader in the country, said they are interested in taking part in the auction but at the same time, they want the SIM replacement tax issue to be resolved before the auction.

"Without resolving the long pending SIM replacement tax issue, we can't take part in the spectrum auction," Rajeev Sethi, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, said in a press conference yesterday.

Through this auction, the telecom watchdog also plans to allocate 10.6 MHz spectrum in the 1,800 band and 15 MHz in the 2,100 band. The government will earn at least $650 million if all the spectrum blocks are sold.