Six firms submit bidding proposal for MNP

Six firms have submitted bidding proposals to be the operator for mobile number portability (MNP) in Bangladesh, reports BSS.
“A total of 18 bidding documents were sold, but finally six firms have submitted proposals for the much-awaited MNP service,” Secretary and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Sarwar Alam told the news agency yesterday.
But, he was reluctant to disclose the names and origins of the firms before publishing the short-list of the firms.
BTRC officials said Monday was the final day for submission of the tender documents on the rescheduled roadmap for MNP auction. September 21 has been fixed for the auction.
Officials said among the firms, two or three companies from India and Russia are taking part in the bidding.
Meanwhile, a preparatory meeting regarding the MNP was held yesterday at BTRC where procedure of the auction, especially short-listing criteria for eligible firms, was discussed.
Sarwar Alam revealed that they would publish the name of the short-listed firms on September 5.
On August 10, the telecom regulator rescheduled the timetable of other procedures keeping the date for auction unchanged.
According to the new schedule, name of the qualified applicants would be circulated on September 5, date for submission of bid earnest money on September 6, letter of acceptance or rejection on September 8 and consultation of auction procedure on September 19.
Earlier on June 14, BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood had announced the MNP auction roadmap.
The BTRC had set June 16 for the invitation of application while last date of submission of any query on June 30.
“The base price for the auction would be Tk 1 crore and bid earnest money has been fixed at Tk 10 lakh while application fee at Tk 1 lakh and annual license fee at Tk 20 lakh,” said the BTRC Chairman.
The license would be issued primarily to an operator for 15 years which would be renewed for another 5 year upon the approval of government and the operator has to deposit Tk 1 crore as bank guarantee.
The applicant must have at least three years experience in this filed along with providing service to minimum 1 crore subscribers.
The operator has to share 5.5 per cent revenue with the government from the second year of the license.
Any Bangladeshi or expatriate Bangladeshi owned company registered in the country will be eligible to bid in the auction but foreign companies having partnership with Bangladeshi one could also take part in the auction.
The foreign companies, however, can hold as high as 51 per cent share, and the company must invest in foreign currency and they could get no chance to mobilize fund from Bangladeshi market.

Six firms submit bidding proposal for MNP

Six firms have submitted biddingproposals to be the operator for mobile number portability (MNP) in Bangladesh, reports BSS. A total of 18 bidding documents were sold, but finally six firms have submitted proposals for the much-awaited MNP service, Secretary and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Sarwar Alam told the news agency yesterday. But, he was reluctant to disclose the names and origins of the firms before publishing the short-list of the firms. BTRC officials said Monday was the final day for submission of the tender documents on the rescheduled roadmap for MNP auction. September 21 has been fixed for the auction. Officials said among the firms, two or three companies from India and Russia are taking part in the bidding. Meanwhile, a preparatory meeting regarding the MNP was held yesterday at BTRC where procedure of the auction, especially short-listing criteria for eligible firms, was discussed. Sarwar Alam revealed that they would publish the name of the short-listed firms on September 5. On August 10, the telecom regulator rescheduled the timetable of other procedures keeping the date for auction unchanged. According to the new schedule, name of the qualified applicants would be circulated on September 5, date for submission of bid earnest money on September 6, letter of acceptance or rejection on September 8 and consultation of auction procedure on September 19. Earlier on June 14, BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood had announced the MNP auction roadmap. The BTRC had set June 16 for the invitation of application while last date of submission of any query on June 30. The base price for the auction would be Tk 1 crore and bid earnest money has been fixed at Tk 10 lakh while application fee at Tk 1 lakh and annual license fee at Tk 20 lakh, said the BTRC Chairman. The license would be issued primarily to an operator for 15 years which would be renewed for another 5 year upon the approval of government and theoperator has to deposit Tk 1 crore as bank guarantee. The applicant must have at least three years experience in this filed along with providing service to minimum 1 crore subscribers. The operator has to share 5.5 per cent revenue with the government from the second year of the license. Any Bangladeshi or expatriate Bangladeshi owned company registered in the country will be eligible to bid in the auction but foreign companies having partnership with Bangladeshi one could also take part in the auction. The foreign companies, however, can hold as high as 51 per cent share, and the company must invest in foreign currency and they could get no chance to mobilize fund from Bangladeshi market.