News Title : Citycell says to bring new investor to pay Tk 257cr BTRC dues

News Date : 2015-10-06

-Staff Correspondent
Citycell, the country’s lone CDMA mobile phone operator, has again sought time until December 31 from the telecom regulator to pay its dues amounting to Tk 257 crore saying the company will bring new investor. In a recent letter to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission the operator has said it will pay the dues within the time as the company is currently in talks with a foreign investor, BTRC officials told New Age on Monday. The telecom regulator, however, is not willing to give more time to Citycell; rather it is considering taking legal action against the operator, said a senior BTRC official. ‘We have given enough time to Citycell but it failed with its every promise. Now we will take legal action against the company,’ he said. Although Citycell has claimed to have discussion with foreign investors, it has not mentioned any name of the financers, the official said. According to BTRC data, of the total amount of dues, Tk 229 crore was for spectrum charges, Tk 5 crore for licence fee, Tk 16 crore for revenue share and Tk 7 crore for social obligation fund. Citycell officials told New Age that the issue of bringing new investors was still under discussion. ‘We can’t reveal the issue at this moment as the matter is still in the shareholders’ hands,’ a Citycell official said. The BTRC officials said Citycell’s dues were longstanding and the regulator was earlier preparing to take legal action against the operator. ‘But the company came with a proposition that if it is given a chance to take part in the 3G spectrum auction, then it will pay the dues by bringing new investor,’ another BTRC official said. The telecom regulator supported the bid and designed the 2G and 3G spectrum auction guidelines in such a way that Citycell could take part in the future as it was barred in the previous 3G auction. ‘The condition was again paying the dues, but Citycell failed yet again,’ he said. The 2G and 3G spectrum auction, however, has got stagnant following some pricing and other disputes, ‘So, now the commission wants Citycell to pay the money,’ the official said. As the first mobile telecom operator in the country, Citycell started its operation in 1993 with CDMA technology. The latest data of BTRC showed the operator had 11.38 lakh active subscribers in August.

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