Govt sets Tk 100cr fee on Robi-Airtel merger

Mobile phone operators Robi and Airtel Bangladesh have to pay Tk 100 crore as the fee for their merger.
An inter-ministerial meeting, chaired by finance minister AMA Muhith, yesterday fixed the fee for the country’s first ever merger in the telecommunication sector. The Finance Division has also finalised the spectrum fee at Tk. 33.8 crore for each megahertz (MHz) of 2G airwave for the next four years.
State minister for posts and telecommunications, Tarana Halim, told The Independent: “We have fixed the fees for the proposed merger of Robi and Airtel, which would be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office tomorrow (Thursday) for final approval.”
Replying to a query about the imminent hearing on the merger in the High Court, she said they have sought further time.
Airtel is currently using 15 MHz 2G spectrum, the licence for which would expire in 2020. If Robi acquires the entire spectrum, the operator has to deposit Tk. 507 crore to the telecom regulator.
However, sources present at the meeting said Robi is interested in surrendering 5 MHz of airwave to the telecom regulator. In that case, the spectrum fee would be adjusted according to the price set.
According to the sources, the Posts and Telecommunications Division proposed merger fees of Tk. 65 crore, but the Finance Division raised it to Tk. 100 crore. However, they agreed on the spectrum pricing.
A Robi official said the operator would acquire 10 MHz of 2G spectrum from Airtel.
Regarding the spectrum pricing calculation, the official explained that Airtel had bought 15 MHz spectrum in the 1800 band for 15 years for Tk. 340 crore in 2005. It means that Airtel paid Tk. 1.51 crore per MHz every eyar year.
But, Robi and other operators paid Tk. 150 crore for 15 years for their spectrum in 2011, which amounts to Tk. 10 crore per MHz every year. Now, they have to pay an additional Tk. 8.49 crore every year as there are four more years to go for the licence of Airtel to expire. BTRC chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood said they have set the fees by keeping the interests of both the government and the operators in mind. “The Finance Division, Telecommunication Division and BTRC have taken the decision considering all aspects,” he added.
Robi and Airtel opened talks of a possible merger at the end of August last year. On January 28, the operators’ parent companies signed a deal.
If merged, the entity will be the second largest operator in Bangladesh after Grameenphone.
In the merged entity, Robi’s parent company Axiata will hold 68.7 per cent controlling stake, Bharti Airtel 25 per cent and NTT DOCOMO of Japan 6.3 per cent. Currently, the Malaysia-based Axiata has 91.57 per cent share and NTT DOCOMO has 8.41 per cent share in Robi. As of May, Robi has 2.77 crore active subscribers and Airtel, 1.01 crore, making them the third and fourth largest operators in the country, respectively, in terms of subscriptions. Market leader Grameenphone has 5.74 crore active users and Banglalink, which holds the No. 2 spot, has 3.22 crore subscribers.

 

Govt sets Tk 100cr fee on Robi-Airtel merger

Mobile phone operators Robi and Airtel Bangladesh have to pay Tk 100 crore as the fee for their merger. An inter-ministerial meeting, chaired by finance minister AMA Muhith, yesterday fixed the fee for the countrys first ever merger in the telecommunication sector. The Finance Division has also finalised the spectrum fee at Tk. 33.8 crore for each megahertz (MHz) of 2G airwave for the next four years. State minister for posts and telecommunications, Tarana Halim, told The Independent: We have fixed the fees for the proposed merger of Robi and Airtel, which would be sent to the Prime Ministers Office tomorrow (Thursday) for final approval. Replying to a query about the imminent hearing on the merger in the High Court, she said they have sought further time. Airtel is currently using 15 MHz 2G spectrum, the licence for which would expire in 2020. If Robi acquires the entire spectrum, the operator has to deposit Tk. 507 crore to the telecom regulator. However, sources present at the meeting said Robi is interested in surrendering 5 MHz of airwave to the telecom regulator. In that case, the spectrum fee would be adjusted according to the price set. According to the sources, the Posts and Telecommunications Division proposed merger fees of Tk. 65 crore, but the Finance Division raised it to Tk. 100 crore. However, they agreed on the spectrum pricing. A Robi official said the operator would acquire 10 MHz of 2G spectrum from Airtel. Regarding the spectrum pricing calculation, the official explained that Airtel had bought 15 MHz spectrum in the 1800 band for 15 years for Tk. 340 crore in 2005. It means that Airtel paid Tk. 1.51 crore per MHz every eyar year. But, Robi and other operators paid Tk. 150 crore for 15 years for their spectrum in 2011, which amounts to Tk. 10 crore per MHz every year. Now, they have to pay an additional Tk. 8.49 crore every year as there are four more years to go for the licence of Airtel to expire. BTRC chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood said they have set the fees by keeping the interests of both the government and the operators in mind. The Finance Division, Telecommunication Division and BTRC have taken the decision considering all aspects, he added. Robi and Airtel opened talks of a possible merger at the end of August last year. On January 28, the operators parent companies signed a deal. If merged, the entity will be the second largest operator in Bangladesh after Grameenphone. In the merged entity, Robis parent company Axiata will hold 68.7 per cent controlling stake, Bharti Airtel 25 per cent and NTT DOCOMO of Japan 6.3 per cent. Currently, the Malaysia-based Axiata has 91.57 per cent share and NTT DOCOMO has 8.41 per cent share in Robi. As of May, Robi has 2.77 crore active subscribers and Airtel, 1.01 crore, making them the third and fourth largest operators in the country, respectively, in terms of subscriptions. Market leader Grameenphone has 5.74 crore active users and Banglalink, which holds the No. 2 spot, has 3.22 crore subscribers.