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Foreigners not to exceed 50pc in telcos' top management

Abdullah Mamun
The government yesterday decided that the number of foreigners employed at the top two rungs at the mobile phone operators will not exceed 50 percent of the total recruits.
The decision came at a meeting of the telecom ministry with the representatives of the operators, said government officials who attended the meeting presided over by Telecom Secretary Sunil Kanti Bose.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the telecom regulator, had proposed the same last year too.
An official of a mobile operator said, at least two operators have more than 50 percent foreign officials at their top management.
The telecom ministry yesterday formally apprised the operators of the government's decision on the financial issues of their licence renewal.
Officials who attended the meeting said the government will invite applications by September 15 for renewal of 2G licences of four mobile operators — Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell.
The telecom ministry will convey its decision to the BTRC by today, said the officials. The regulator will then do the rest.
Four operators will pay a total ofTk 7,563 crore as spectrum charges while Grameenphone will pay Tk 3,241 crore, Banglalink Tk 1,971 crore, RobiTk 1,900 crore, and Citycell Tk450 crore.
They will also payTk 10 crore each as licence renewal fee.
The telecom ministry has given the operators a six-week deadline to pay 49 percent of the spectrum assignment charges, while the operators asked for a time extension, said the officials.
Major non-financial and non-renewal issues raised by the BTRC in the draft guidelines have been removed from the licence renewal process, said both the ministry and operators.
Chief executive of Citycell Mehboob Chowdhury said, "The ministry called us to update on the 2G licence renewal issues."
The mobile companies will also share 5.5 percent of their revenue with the government, and will pay 1 percent of their revenue to Social Obligation Fund.
The financial issues of the 2G licence renewal were finalised by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 29.