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Govt will take a decision on Citycell’s closure, BTRC chief says
The final decision closing down Citycell, Bangladesh’s oldest and lone CDMA mobile-phone operator, will be taken by the government, regulators BTRC says.
Published : 3 August 2016, 05:33 PM
Updated : 4 August 2016, 06:53 AM
Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said at a news gathering on Wednesday that a delegation of the operators, which has failed to pay Tk 4.77 billion in dues, visited BTRC two days ago.
“The summary of the discussion will be sent to the government. The government will take the final decision whether to close Citycell or not,” Mahmood said.
“It is for the government to decide whether we will take the dues,” he added.
Citycell’s subscriber base shrunk to 700,000 in June, which is less than 1 percent of the total number of mobile-phone users.
After the biometric registration of SIM cards, the operator now has 100,000 to 150,000 customers only, according to Mahmood.
The BTRC has given Citycell until Aug 16 to pay up the fees for 2G spectrum, annual licence renewal, revenue sharing, and several other fees.
The regulators have warned the operator with cancelling its spectrum and closing down operations.
Asked whether the company will be harmed over the BTRC decision regarding its customers even if Citycell would want to continue operations by paying the dues in this period, Mahmood said, “Everything is done on government orders.”
On whether Citycell customers can be given time until the option to switch operator by keeping the number unchanged is made available, the BTRC chief said, “The incident with Citycell is unfortunate. We are also sorry for the customers who will face problems.”
In 1989, a licence to operate telecom services was issued to Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (BTL).
Investments from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunication Ltd came the next year, which was then re-christened as Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (HBTL).
In 1993, the then foreign minister M Morshed Khan-owned Pacific Motors, SingTel and Far East Telecom brought HBTL's shares.
The company was renamed as Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd, with the brand name of Citycell.
In 2012, when the regulators renewed its licence, the company was allowed to switch from CDMA to GSM for only a Tk 2 billion fee.
The company also qualified to bid for 3G services, but did not take part as it failed to come up with the $20 million earnest money.
Speaking to bdnews24.com on Tuesday, CEO Mehboob Chowdhury acknowledged strategic mistakes. “Not going for GSM was a major mistake.”
“I hope we will be able to pay the arrears as soon as new investments come in,” said the CEO.
BTRC Commissioner Zahirul Haque told the media call on Wednesday: “We could close Citycell on Aug 1 going by the law, but we’ve given the time considering the users.”
Asked about arrears of other mobile-phone operators, Chairman Mahmood said, “We consider them all equally. But it is the government that always takes the decision.”
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