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Teletalk faces troubles in clearing 3G spectrum payments

The operator launches 3G services in all divisional cities

Abduliah Mamun
Teletalk is now grappling with financial hurdles to pay $210 million for the 10 megahertz spectrum it has been using since the launch of its 3G services in October last year.
Now the operator plans to take loans to pay the spectrum charges and will request the telecom regulator to extend the payment deadline, said Md Abubakar Siddique, telecom secretary and chairman of the Teletalk board.
Teletalk may also return half of its allocated 10 MHz spectrum because of its financial weakness, its officials said.
"Advertisements play a big role for mobile operators in raising their earnings. But we cannot spend much on ads due to audit objections," Siddique said.
Currently, the company has 3,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) or
towers for 3G and voice connectivity, and installations of around 5,000 BTS will be completed by December, which will enable the operator to maintain 90 lakh connections at a time.
"It's not possible for Teletalk to compete with the private mobile operators, but we will survive in the market with our limited resources," the telecom secretary said.
The operator has already cut its 3G SIM prices toTk 129 from Tk 450 and brought down 2G SIM prices to Tk 99 to become competitive, its Managing Director Mujibur Rahman said.
The company has recently launched 3G services in all divisional cities, he said. Earlier, the services were limited to Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.
New data packages with reduced rates have also been launched, and Teletalk has already installed an auto-
matic answering machine to upgrade its customer care services.
The operator will also open five new customer care centres by this year for its 20 lakh users, including five lakh 3G subscribers, according to Rahman.
"We hope our subscriber base will reach 30 lakh by theyearend."
Teletalk was launched in 2005 as a project of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd.
The telecom regulator provided 3G licences to Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Airtel last month and they have already launched the services on a trial basis.
Grameenphone has purchased 10 MHz while the other three private operators bought 5 MHz each.
The oldest operator, Citycell, could not purchase 3G spectrum due to a fund crisis.