BTRC gives unified licences to three mobile operators for 5G service

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Monday awarded two unified licences to three mobile phone operators - Grameenphone, Robi Axiata and Teletalk – for providing 5G and upcoming services.

The 'Cellular Mobile Services Operator Licence' and 'Radio Communications Apparatus Licence for Cellular Mobile Services' are aimed at ending previous hassles of obtaining separate licences and guidelines for 2G, 3G, 4G services and spectrum allocation for the operators. 

"Apart from providing modern technical services easily and cheaply to the customers, there is no need to issue a separate license to the operators for the new technology" 

BTRC Chairman Md Mohiuddin Ahmed

"The issuance of unified licence will bring positive results in the telecommunication sector. Operators will be able to provide high-speed wireless internet to customers in future," State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak said while handing over the licences to the operators at a programme at BTRC office. 

"Apart from providing modern technical services easily and cheaply to the customers, there is no need to issue a separate license to the operators for the new technology," BTRC Chairman Md Mohiuddin Ahmed said. 

Telecommunication technology has expanded so much that the number of mobile connections and internet subscribers is constantly increasing in the country, he added. 

Currently, there are 19 crore mobile phone subscribers and about 13 crore internet subscribers in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh. 

The BTRC chairman said that the spectrum has already been allocated in favor of the operators for the implementation of 5G technology and there will be no complications in providing new technical services including 5G as a result of the issuance of the unified licences. 

For unified 5G licence facility, availability of sufficient access spectrum, backhaul fibre, permission to use public infrastructure, offshore cloud facilities, roll out obligations, and network security have been taken into consideration. 

Palak expected that the operators will reap full benefits of their investment alongside helping in generating government revenues as the new move with create opportunity for them to provide multi-dimensional services.

Stating that the use of data is increasing along with voice calls, the state minister advised the operators to launch digital products.

Yasir Azman, Grameenphone CEO, said with the unified licence operators will be able to provide telecom services easily using all types of technology according to their choice. 

"The new licensing guidelines will play an important role in ensuring quality services in the telecom sector," he said.