Grameenphone stays on top after intense spectrum bidding war with Robi

Grameenphone has won the bidding war for the last block of the 2100 MHz band after a long standoff with its rival Robi Axiata at the auction for unused spectrum.

The base price for the 5Mhz block was set at $26 million by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, with Grameenphone buying the block for a price of $46.75 million.

The battle between the country's top two mobile networks lasted around seven-and-a-half-hours before Robi relented in the 80th round.

But both the carriers backed down in the 81st round when the price shot up to $47 million. Grameenphone were subsequently handed the block for the bid price in line with the rules of the auction.

Banglalink stepped away from the table at the beginning of the auctioning process of this block around 1:30pm on Monday. The state-owned operator Teletalk also gave up on bidding two and a half hours later.

However, the prices continued to soar as Robi and Grameenphone stuck to their guns. Grameenphone, the largest operator in the country in terms of subscribers base, would eventually have the last laugh at 8:40pm.

With the win, it also topped the list of the four operators in terms of total spectrum.

According to the telecom regulator, Grameenphone had a total of 37 MHz prior to the auction. The figure rose to 48.44 MHz after the company bought another 10.44 MHz of the two bands in the auction on Monday.

After its merger with Airtel, Robi's total wavelength rose to 36.4 MHz. On Monday, the operator bought another 7.6 MHz spectrum, taking the total to 44 MHz.

Banglalink had 30.6 MHz which has now risen to 40 MHz. Meanwhile, Teletalk returned empty-handed from Monday's auction, leaving it with a total spectrum of 25.20 MHz.