Chamber judge lifts High Court restrictions on 4G spectrum auction, licensing

A midday court order that stalled 4G spectrum auction and licensing has been stayed by another judge later in the day.

Following a petition citing that the telecom regulator’s circular contradicts the 2008 wireless broadband guideline, the High Court stayed the process on Thursday.

Later the state took the issue to the Supreme Court’s chamber judge challenging the order and secured a freeze on it.

On Dec 4, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC published the notice, saying it will auction 4G spectrum on Feb 13 and accept applications for licences until Jan 14 from telecom operators to offer the fourth-generation or 4G services.

In May last year, BTRC forwarded the draft of the spectrum allocation and licensing guidelines to the Telecom Division.

They were sent back to the regulator on Nov 29 following the final approval by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The guideline says:

>> No auction for licence will be held. Operators can take the licence by paying fees.

>> Application fee for 4G licence has been set at Tk 500,000. Licence can be obtained at Tk 100 million and the annual licence renewal fee is Tk 50 million.

>> Applicants must submit Tk 1,500 million as bank guarantee and pay 5.5 percent of its income in revenue sharing.

>> Base price for 1,800 megahertz 4G spectrum is $30 million.

>> For converting 2G and 3G services spectrums to ‘technology neutral’, operators must pay per megahertz.