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BTRC keen to ease costs of 3G licensing

Star Business Report
The telecom watchdog is looking for a suitable way to award mobile phone operators 3G licences to ensure licence-acquisition fees are not a burden to prospective operators.
'We are almost ready to finalise the guidelines on 3G licensing. We are moving cautiously. We are looking for a suitable mechanism to award the licences," said Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecom muni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) yesterday.
The BTRC chief was speak-ing to reporters at a
programme titled "WiMax Trial in Bangladesh" at Radisson Water Garden Hotel.
In response to queries over whether they would go for an auction to award 3G licences, Ahmed said: "Whatever mechanism the BTRC adopts, it will be decided after discussing with all stakeholders."
BTRC initiated an auction in September last year to award WiMax licences, the first-ever high-speed technology. However, the auction price was so high that the some bidders left the race, despite winning.
The Tk 215 crore WiMax bid price become a burden
for the local licensees and some are struggling to realise the hefty amount.
Asked on how BTRC may mange bid prices, Ahmed hinted that they are thinking of ways to award the 3G licences by minimising floor prices.
In an open announcement in November 2008, the former BTRC chairman said BTRC is getting ready to award 3G licences by March 2009.
However, the current chairman yesterday said it might take time as BTRC has become extra-cautious in awarding the latest technology.
As per BTRC's announced plan, of the six mobile operators, three will be awarded 3G technology to serve Bangladesh's 45-million mobile customer market.
Third-generation technology enables network operators to offer users a wider range of advanced services while achieving greater net-work capacity through improved spectral efficiency.
At present, the Bangladesh mobile market runs on 2.5G technology.
In Bangladesh, the telepenetration rate is 31 percent while the internet penetration rate is still below 1 percent.