MNP licence auction after intelligence reports on companies, Tarana says

The auction to award licence for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) job will be held after getting intelligence reports on the interested firms, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim has said.

Speaking to bdnews24.com at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Tarana said more time was needed to hold the auction.

"Local and foreign firms are related to the MNP auction. The intelligence agencies are running a check on them. So, more time will be required," she said.

Tarana also said the auction would be held within 10 days, this year, from getting the security clearance by the intelligence agencies.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had fixed Sep 28 for the auction but later deferred it for an indefinite period.

BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam had said more preparations were needed to do the 'massive job properly and without any error'.

The regulators have initially selected five companies for the auction to become Bangladesh's first mobile number portability operator.

They are-

>> REVE Number Ltd (foreigner partner company T4B Sp. z o.o of Poland)

>> Greentech International Ltd (foreign partner company MEDIAFON of Lithuania)

>> Infozillion BD Teletech Consortium Ltd (foreign partner company Teletech d.o.o of Slovenia)

>> Brazil-Bangladesh Consortium (foreign partner company ClearTech of Brazil)

>> Roots Infotech Ltd (foreign partner company Systor Group of Norway)

The use of a mobile-phone number over a period of time makes it a part of an individual or organisation’s identity. But, they often have to switch operators to take the advantage of a better network or more competitive plans on offer.
The advantage the MNP offers is that subscribers will be able to switch operators without having to change the number.

The government says mobile operators will charge Tk 30 from a subscriber for the facility.

A subscriber will have to wait for 90 days after availing the facility to switch operators.

The BTRC has set Tk 100,000 as the fee to register for the auction, Tk 1 million as bid earnest money and Tk 10 million as the base price.

The licence will be awarded for 15 years with an annual fee of Tk 2 million, and from the second year onwards, the company will have to share 5.5 percent of its revenue with the government. It will also have to give Tk 10 million as bank guarantee.

After it expires, the company will be able to renew the licence for another five years following clearance from the government.