Economic Reporter :
The finance ministry has fixed the fee for the merger of the Bangladesh operations of mobile-phone operators Airtel and Robi at Tk 1 billion.
It was revealed following talks with a number of officials of the BTRC and the officials from ministries of finance and telecommunications.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim said the amount of merger fee had been fixed after a finance ministry meeting and the same conveyed to the telecoms division.
She did not specify the amount though but added that the proposal would be sent for the prime minister’s consideration before making a final call on it.
The decision had been pending for quite sometime now, BTRC chief Shahjahan Mahmud said and added that the quantum of fee was decided unanimously by the finance and the telecom ministries and BTRC.
He also hoped that the two operators would also be satisfied with the amount fixed. However, even he refused to specify the amount.
But another BTRC official present at the meeting said the amount was set at Tk 1 billion.
A BTRC official said that the spectrum unification fee could go up to Tk 5 billion. But he said that a lot would depend on how much 2G spectrum Robi can offer to Airtel. No fee would be payable for 3G spectrum allocation of up to 5Mhz.
Robi currently holds 19.80 Mhz and Airtel owns 20 Mhz spectrum. Airtel’s 2G licence expires in December 2020.
The finance ministry has fixed the fee for the merger of the Bangladesh operations of mobile-phone operators Airtel and Robi at Tk 1 billion.
It was revealed following talks with a number of officials of the BTRC and the officials from ministries of finance and telecommunications.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim said the amount of merger fee had been fixed after a finance ministry meeting and the same conveyed to the telecoms division.
She did not specify the amount though but added that the proposal would be sent for the prime minister’s consideration before making a final call on it.
The decision had been pending for quite sometime now, BTRC chief Shahjahan Mahmud said and added that the quantum of fee was decided unanimously by the finance and the telecom ministries and BTRC.
He also hoped that the two operators would also be satisfied with the amount fixed. However, even he refused to specify the amount.
But another BTRC official present at the meeting said the amount was set at Tk 1 billion.
A BTRC official said that the spectrum unification fee could go up to Tk 5 billion. But he said that a lot would depend on how much 2G spectrum Robi can offer to Airtel. No fee would be payable for 3G spectrum allocation of up to 5Mhz.
Robi currently holds 19.80 Mhz and Airtel owns 20 Mhz spectrum. Airtel’s 2G licence expires in December 2020.
