GP seeks extra spectrum at discounted price

Grameenphone has sought additional spectrum for an interim period to offer better internet services as their network has become busier for a surge in data usage amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Three other operators have also sought additional spectrum from the regulator, albeit free of cost, but Grameenphone wants to either pay a discounted price or share revenue with the government.

Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of the country's leading mobile operator, expressed the intention at a recent meeting with Md Jahurul Haque, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Hossain Sadat, head of regulatory affairs of the operator, told The Daily Star.

"We will soon send a letter to the regulator seeking the additional spectrum," he added.

If users get better service, the operators' plea can be considered as the government has a huge amount of unused spectrum, Haque said.

The BTRC has shared the operators' proposals with Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar and a decision needs to come from the government.

"The operators are helping the government combat the coronavirus pandemic, and in return, they also deserve something from us," Haque added.

Sadat said they were against the idea of free allocation of spectrum.

"We believe, this is the time we all need to come forward and join hands with the government in its fight against the COVID-19."

Spectrum should be allocated in such a manner that all the parties are benefitted equally, he added.

"Due to the countrywide lockdown, data traffic has increased by more than 25 per cent in our network," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi, the country's second largest operator.

Because of the emerging situation, service quality will be hard to ensure if the additional spectrum is not allocated.

"That's why we have requested the government to consider allocating us additional spectrum for three months without any charge."

Alam claimed that the quality of their service will improve significantly within seven days of getting the additional spectrum.

Currently, Grameenphone has 37 Megahertz (MHz) of spectrum, Robi 36.4MHz, Banglalink 30.6MHz and Teletalk 25MHz in different bands.

Earlier, Grameenphone on several occasions had sought spectrum at a reduced rate but the regulator did not pay heed to its request.

The BTRC always maintained a stance that the operators would have to pay a price per the last auction in February 2018 when Grameenphone and Banglalink had bought each MHz of the spectrum at $31 million.

Early this month, the operators also requested the BTRC to exempt them from sharing revenue with the government at least for a couple of months so that they can tackle the crisis during the challenging business climate brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.

Mobile carriers now share 6.5 per cent of their gross revenue with the government.

The telecom sector is going through some challenges like other areas of the economy due to the pandemic, the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh had said in a statement.

Mobile carriers are already observing trends in usage patterns that may leave a dent on their overall revenue, it said.

The operators already slashed data pack tariffs following a request from the telecom regulator, which has resulted in a surge in data usage.

Although data consumption is growing rapidly, data monetisation is still low, said SM Farhad, secretary-general of the association.