Ecnec pours cold water on Teletalk’s plans
Teletalk, it often seems, is overindulged.
But what transpired at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday suggests a break from custom: the state-run carrier's proposal for building towers and network at a price of Tk 3,279.05 crore was scrapped.
For the reason that, the move went against telecom rules.
According to telecom guidelines, no mobile operator is permitted to create towers as four companies were awarded exclusive rights in 2018 to take action. And the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission stuck to that diktat.
Regardless of that, Teletalk proposed to set up 3,000 new towers to expand its network in villages and get its network ready for 5G roll-out.
Senior ministers at the Ecnec meeting were critical of the matter: tower licences were issued to lower the mobile operators' capital expenditure, so why is Teletalk planning to spend large sums of public money upon this?
They expressed doubts about the feasibility study completed by Teletalk on the project and called after the telecom minister to perform a fresh study by a reputed third party.
Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar acknowledged the discussions that occurred at the Ecnec meeting.
"A few of my colleagues think we must go for a third-party feasibility study," Jabbar told The Daily Star.
A brand new feasibility study will be carried out as soon as possible and a revised proposal will be sent to the Ecnec, he said, adding that the project could be implemented in several phases.
"It really is true that the project is quite vast and time-consuming. But this project is a lifeline for Teletalk."
The ministers acknowledged that technology changes every 2-3 years, so fresh investment will be needed as per know-how.
Though the ministers had varying opinions, they were all on the same page that the state-run operator needed more investment to create it competitive, Jabbar added.
Currently Teletalk has 4,864 towers, which is merely 26.78 per cent of their total demand and take into account only 3 % of the total towers in Bangladesh.
In the project proposal, the operator, which already comes with an ongoing project to include about 1,000 new towers, said it requires about 18,160 towers to focus on its existing customers.
The carrier has a plan to increase its data transmission capacity to 100 Gbps within its efforts to embrace 5G technology.
It also plans to strength coverage in 50,000 government offices, educational institutions, hospitals and 500 high-rise buildings in divisional cities.
Of the proposed amount, Teletalk has asked the federal government to provide Tk 3,155.50 crore at a 5 % interest, while it provides Tk 123.52 crore from its fund.
After the meeting at the look commission chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Planning Secretary Nurul Amin told reporters that the premier herself also stressed on the necessity for a third-party feasibility study.
The prime minister also asked the operator to improve its services, he said.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
