Four more companies seek NTTN licences

Four new companies have applied to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) licences, reflecting renewed interest in the transmission business in the country.

According to state guidelines, the licence is primarily for building, maintaining, and managing a nationwide fibre-optic transmission network and sharing infrastructure for telecom operators and internet service providers.

The four applicants are Mango Teleservices Limited, VEON, Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), and Army Transmission Company Limited, according to official documents.

Earlier, Bangla Phone applied for the licence for a second time on September 30, 2024.

The BTRC has decided to forward the application to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology for prior approval—a prerequisite for the BTRC to issue a licence.

The four applicants are Mango Teleservices Limited, VEON, Bangladesh Computer Council, and Army Transmission Company Limited

Mango Teleservices currently holds a nationwide internet service provider (ISP) licence.

As per the Regulatory and Licensing Guidelines for ISPs in Bangladesh, a single entity cannot concurrently hold an ISP licence and an NTTN licence.

Based on this regulation, the BTRC has decided not to grant Mango Teleservices an NTTN licence and will issue a formal notification soon.

The current guidelines also prohibit mobile operators and their shareholders from applying for the licence.

This means VEON, the parent company of mobile operator Banglalink, is not supposed to get one.

However, as the government is reviewing these policies based on recommendations from a Network Topology Reform Committee, the BTRC has decided to keep VEON's application on hold pending further government decisions.

In the case of the BCC, the BTRC expressed caution about granting another government-run entity an NTTN licence, since state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited already holds one.

The BTRC will review the matter further before making a decision.

The application from Army Transmission Company Limited was submitted through D-Nothi, the government's digital file management system, rather than the BTRC's License Issuance & Management System portal.

The BTRC will review it once it is formally received through the proper channel.

"There are government companies that already have NTTN licences, so we will further review the BCC application. Since Mango holds an ISP licence, it cannot get an NTTN licence," said BTRC Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Md Emdad ul Bari.

He added that the commission would determine its next course of action after Army Transmission Company Limited's application is received through the dedicated channel.

Currently, there are six NTTN operators in Bangladesh, with 148,000 kilometres of optical fibre collectively laid out, according to BTRC documents.

The country's first NTTN licence was awarded in 2008 to Fibre@Home, which operates a network spanning approximately 50,000 kilometres of optical fibre.

Summit Communications has around 40,000 kilometres, Bahon Limited 7,817 kilometres, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited 40,000 kilometres, Bangladesh Railway 3,800 kilometres, and the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh about 8,500 kilometres.

Additionally, the government has laid around 35,000 kilometres of optical fibre under projects such as Info-Sarker 3 and Connected Bangladesh. Mobile operators have around 8,200 kilometres of optical fibre infrastructure.