Staff Reporter :
The government on Thursday gave its nod to the telecom regulator’s to appoint administrators for Grameenphone and Robi to oversee the operation of the two mobile operators.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication came up with the approval in line with a recommendation made by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in this regard.
The BTRC on Tuesday sent two letters to the telecom ministry for its approval to appoint the administrators.
The letters proposed appointing at least four administrators in each of the carriers amid a long-drawn row over dues of Tk 13,446 crore.
“I have approved the recommendation and already sent it back to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC),” Posts and Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar told media in the evening.
He said now BTRC will take action to run the next course of action. The BTRC claimed Tk12,579 crore to Grameenphone (GP), while it also claimed Tk 867.24 crore to Robi.
The amount was determined through two separate audits by the BTRC in 2016. Grameenphone and Robi in late August filed cases challenging the audit claims.
As they haven’t pay the demanded amount, BTRC earlier issued show-cause notice as to why their licence will not be cancelled.
Following the telecom act, BTRC later moved for appointing four administrators in each operator.
Of the four administrators in each of the companies, one would act as chief executive officer. The three others would be legal, engineering, and finance and marketing experts.
On Sept 18, the finance minister in a meeting with the two mobile operators announced that the longstanding dispute about the audit claim would be resolved within three weeks. GP is the leader in the country’s telecom service sector, and Robi, is the second-largest operator.
