Telecoms regulators have finalised the reviewed draft of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) policy.
Published : 15 Jan 2016, 07:38 PM
Some criteria have been set in the draft guidelines for the contractor that will get the job to give the subscribers the facility to change mobile-phone operators without changing existing numbers.
The pre-requisites aim to make the appointment process transparent, officials said.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Secretary M Sarwar Alam told bdnews24.com the commission recently sent the draft to the Posts and Telecommunications Division for final clearance.
After questions had been raised over the auction of the licence for the MNP, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim had said new conditions for the bidders will be added to the draft.
An official of the BTRC’s Legal and Licensing Division told bdnews24.com no criterion had been specified in the initial draft to evaluate the eligibility of the bidders.
The revised draft says foreign companies willing to bid must have a Bangladeshi partner. In this case, the foreign partners can own maximum 51 percent stake in the local company and they have to arrange funds from overseas.
Owners, directors, partners, investors or shareholders of a mobile operator licensed in Bangladesh will not be able to bid.
The licence will be awarded for 15 years and from the second year of operations, the company will have to share 5.5 percent revenue with the government.
The mobile-phone operators can charge Tk 30 from the subscriber for the facility.
Apart from various countries of the Americas and Europe, the MNP facility is available in neighbouring India and Pakistan as well.
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