4G mobile telecom service in December: Tarana

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Staff Reporter :
The State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Wednesday said, the 4G service will be launched by December this year to ensure the fastest data service for mobile phone subscribers.
The minister announcement it while talking to reporters at her secretariat office in the afternoon.
In replying to a question, the state minister said that the tender processing for taking part in the 4G service auction will be completed by November.
It will be “Bangladesh’s will mark a milestone in the process of digitalization by launching 4G,” Tarana Halim said. The government is expecting to earn Tk 11,000 crore from the spectrum auction, she said.
After launching the service in December, the existing mobile phone operators have to distribute the network in the divisional towns within nine months while the new operators will get 16 months in this regard, she added.
The operators will get nine months more to extend the service to 30 percent internet users of the district level, said Tarana.
In the third phase, the operators must provide the 4G network throughout the country within 36 months since the launching period, she mentioned.
Replying to a query, Tarana said the current mobile phone operators can’t provide 3G service properly as they didn’t purchase necessary spectrum.
The operators will be able to provide the 4G data service at low prices, Tarana assured during her speech.
Senior officers of The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Post and Telecommunications Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder were also present during the conference.
Last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also heads the telecom ministry, approved the 4G guideline.
According to the guideline, the BTRC will put 36.4 megahertz of spectrum in three bands up for auction.
Some 25 MHz in 2100 band, 18 MHz in 1800 band and 3.4 MHz in 900 band spectrums will be available at the auction.
The government has set a floor price of $27 million per MHz in 2100 band and $30 million per MHz in both 1800 and 900 bands.
Industry experts, however, cautioned that the government should not be too much focused on making a huge amount of money from the auction because high prices might leave the spectrum unsold like it happened in case of 3G.
Top three mobile phone operators – Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink — yesterday also wrote to the government, expressing concerns about “higher” floor prices.
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