Certain changes made in 4G guideline
It will be placed before PM again
Tareque Morataza
The telecom division has made certain changes in 4G guideline and it will to be placed before the Prime Minister again for her approval of the annex of the guideline.
The decision was taken at a meeting with the presence of the Prime Ministers ICT affairs adviser at the Posts and Telecommuni-cations Division on October 19.
Asked what changes have been made in the guideline, the state minister for posts and telecommunications, Tarana Halim, said: No major changes have been made in the guideline. Operators had raised 24 issues of concern regarding the guideline on 4G services.
We discussed the issues and those are not major problems. We asked the BTRC to make clear the issues raised by the operators. The regulator has already given its explanation regarding the issues. It has been sent to the Prime Ministers Office after vetting by the Posts and Telecommunications Division.
Everything is all right in the approved guideline signed by the Prime Minister. But the operators expressed concern over the fees of spectrum conversion and demanded a review. We told the BTRC and operators to reach a solution through discussion, Tarana Halim said.
For example, the operators raised the issue of taking prior permission to use their CSR funds. Weve told them that they will need to only inform the BTRC about using the CSR funds. No permission is needed prior to using the funds, she explained.
She also said that there will be no concession on the 4G rollout obligation and speed. The BTRC has been asked to fix specific standards. The Prime Ministers adviser also said that there should be no compromise on these two issues, she added.
In the approved guideline, there was a provision to keep the CDR (call detail record) for 12 years. The issue is related to law and order, and we will consider the CDR period issue after discussing it with law enforcers, the senior BTRC official said.
The BTRC would sit with the operators to discuss the spectrum conversion fees, while a decision regarding the CDR would be taken after consultation with law enforcement agencies, said the state minister.
Meeting sources said there is no possibility of reducing the spectrum acquisition fee, but the spectrum conversion fee will be reduced and the BTRC will decide that.
The spectrum conversion fee was fixed at Tk 7.5 million in the approved guideline for the conversion of 1 megahertz spectrum. Now it will be changed.
The conversion fees will be reduced, and the new rate will be fixed after discussion with the operators, a senior official of the BTRC told The Independent.
According to the Posts and Telecommunications Division, the conversion fees can be kept between Tk 3 million and Tk 5 million, the meeting sources said.
The application fee for the 4G licence has been fixed at Tk 5 lakh, while Tk 15 crore has been fixed as the licence acquisition fee and Tk 7.5 crore as the annual fee. The licence acquisition fee has been fixed at Tk 10 crore, while the annual licence renewal fee has been finalised at Tk 5 crore. An operator has to submit a Tk 150-crore bank guarantee for licence.
The base price of per MHz spectrum in 1,800 band has been fixed at $30 million; the base price has been $27 million for per MHz of 900 band from the proposed $10 million.
