News Title : 2G, 3G SPECTRUM AUCTION : Ministry asks BTRC to explain $25m base price proposal

News Date : 2015-10-05

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The telecom ministry has asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to explain the grounds of a regulator’s proposal setting the base prices for 2G and 3G spectrum auction at $25 million each, said officials concerned. The BTRC officials told New Age on Sunday that the regulator last week decided to form a committee to prepare explanations for the ministry. The BTRC was set to hold the auction of 2G (1800MHz) and 3G (2100MHz) spectrum in April but failed to do so because of the lack of participation of the operators and delay in government approval in the amendment to the auction guidelines, they said. The base prices were initially set at $30 million for 1800MHz and $22 million for 2100MHz. Later, the Prime Minister’s Office, while reviewing a BTRC proposal to allow PSTN and WIMAX operators to participate in the auction, suggested that the base price for 3G spectrum should be $30 million from existing $22 million. The BTRC, however, opposed the move saying that it would discourage the participants arguing that the country’s mobile phone companies had already warned of boycotting the auction until settlement of a tax dispute. ‘After that following verbal order from the ministry order we prepared a proposal setting the spectrum prices for both of the bands at $25 million but at that time the finance ministry intervened and stopped the pricing issue,’ a senior BTRC official said. Ministry officials, however, said that the price of $25 million was proposed by the BTRC. ‘It was the BTRC which entirely deals with the pricing process of spectrum. We only took consent from the finance ministry as per government rule,’ a senior ministry official told New Age. The telecom ministry earlier in a similar move asked the BTRC to explain why it allowed other operators besides the mobile phone companies to take part in the 2G, 3G auction. According to the guidelines, 10.60MHz spectrum is available in two blocks for auction in 1800MHz band or 2G and 15MHz spectrum in three blocks is available in 2100MHz band or 3G for the auction. The telecom regulator in September 2013 held the 3G spectrum auction of the 2100 band with available spectrum of 40MHz at a base price of $20 million per MHz.

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