Citycell in talks with US firm to sell its shares

Operator’s proposal for continuation of service to be scrutinised: BTRC chairman

Citycell, the country's oldest mobile phone operator, is in talks with a US company to sell all its shares so that ownership can be handed over to it. In this way, it hopes to continue its operations in the country. Citycell has already notified the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) about this. It submitted a letter to the telecom regulator yesterday. The operator also requested the BTRC to postpone the process of shutting down the operator’s operations and network. BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood confirmed to The Independent last night that he had received the letter from the operator. He said, “Citycell has told us that it has approached an American company to buy its whole shares so that it can hand over ownership. Under the circumstances, it has requested us not to shut down its operational activities.”
“We will analyse its proposal and will send our opinion to the post and telecommunications ministry about this issue,” the BTRC chairman added. The operator took this step right after the BTRC decided to cancel the spectrum of Citycell and asked its subscribers to switch to any other operator by August 16. Citycell Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mehboob Chowdhury told The Independent that it has submitted a letter to the telecom regulator, which referred to its latest negotiations with the US company.
“We are in the final stage of the negotiations. At this moment,  e have asked for some time from the BTRC, so that the negotiations can materialise before the closure,” he said. Sources said the Citycell not only handed over the letter to the telecom regulator but a delegation, comprising high-ranking officials from Citycell, also held a meeting with the BTRC chief. The number of Citycell subscribers fell sharply in the wake of the biometric SIM registration process, and stood at 7.6 lakh as of June. Most of the connections were for using data through modems.

 

Citycell in talks with US firm to sell its shares

Operators proposal for continuation of service to be scrutinised: BTRC chairman

Citycell, the countrys oldest mobile phone operator, is in talks with a US company to sell all its shares so that ownership can be handed over to it. In this way, it hopes to continue its operations in the country. Citycell has already notified the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) about this. It submitted a letter to the telecom regulator yesterday. The operator also requested the BTRC to postpone the process of shutting down the operators operations and network. BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood confirmed to The Independent last night that he had received the letter from the operator. He said, Citycell has told us that it has approached an American company to buy its whole shares so that it can hand over ownership. Under the circumstances, it has requested us not to shut down its operational activities. We will analyse its proposal and will send our opinion to the post and telecommunications ministry about this issue, the BTRC chairman added. The operator took this step right after the BTRC decided to cancel the spectrum of Citycell and asked its subscribers to switch to any other operator by August 16. Citycell Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mehboob Chowdhury told The Independent that it has submitted a letter to the telecom regulator, which referred to its latest negotiations with the US company. We are in the final stage of the negotiations. At this moment, e have asked for some time from the BTRC, so that the negotiations can materialise before the closure, he said. Sources said the Citycell not only handed over the letter to the telecom regulator but a delegation, comprising high-ranking officials from Citycell, also held a meeting with the BTRC chief. The number of Citycell subscribers fell sharply in the wake of the biometric SIM registration process, and stood at 7.6 lakh as of June. Most of the connections were for using data through modems.