The countrys telecom regulator is going to issue another licence in International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) category to make competitive the business of bandwidth.
The licence will be issued to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Ltd (BTCL) subject to payment of application and licence fees in future and without payment of performance bank guarantee money, according to the regulator.
Already, the Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) approved the matter and is waiting to award the licence.
A BTRC official said as a government institution, the BTCL is getting the licence without prior payment of licence acquisition and application fees and without any performance bank guarantee money.
As per the ITC guideline, the application fee is Tk 1,00,000 while the license acquisition fee is Tk 20 million, annual license fee Tk 5.0 million and performance bank guarantee Tk 10 million
The BTCL now uses the services of the country’s lone submarine cable, SEA-ME-WE 4. The licence will enable the company to use and sell its own internet bandwidth.
Normally, the bandwidth is used for data-based activities and voice communication. Mobile phone operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are the main customers of the bandwidth.
At present, six private companies are doing bandwidth business by using ITC licence. Six ITC operators’ bandwidth capacity is around 50 Gbps and they are utilising the optimum of their capacity.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) was the vendor of the bandwidth which has 200 Gbps capacity due to use of SEA-ME-WE-4.
Novocom Limited, 1ASIA-AHL JV, Fiber@Home Ltd, Summit Communications Ltd, BD Link Communication Ltd and Mango Teleservices Ltd are ITC licence- holders company in the country.
Source: The Financial Express
