Md Hasan
hasan@thedailystar.net

The parley between telecom regulator and three top mobile operators to settle new spectrum allocation issue starts today, which these operators applied for last March in the face of huge network jam. Frequency is important in wireless communications, where it is mathematically related to the wavelength. Such a device is required as per the growth in customer.

The operators who have long been demanding such frequency are Grameenphone, Banglalink and AKTEL, who grab 90 per cent of the six operators' market share.

Responding to the plea for additional frequencies in order to improve the mobile operators' services and cope with the rapid growth in users, the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) decided to allocate 17.6 MHz to them in June.

But the issue remained unresolved as debate surfaced over the price the regulator had set for the frequency.

This rate of frequency is Tk112crore per MHz, which is to be paid annually. The top cell phone operators see it 'pricey', while the rate fixing authority think it 'very rational' in global context.

"Mobile operators once enjoyed frequency benefits free in Bangladesh, but it should not be," said Major General Manzurul Alam (rtd), chairman of BTRC.

"We are not imposing anything on them. Let's have a talk with them. But they have to understand one thing --spectrum is a national asset and it has a value," he said.

According to BTRC sources, on the basis of their existing customer base Grameen may get 7 MHz, Banglalink 5.1MHz and AKTEL 5MHz, respectively, in addition to their existing frequencies of 80MHz. If these operators add new frequencies, the amount of Grameen's will be 21.5 MHz, Banglalink's 17.5Mhz and AKTEL's 17.8Mhz.

As of August 2008, the number of mobile phone customers reached 45.4 million and the rapid increase has caused problems among the larger operators.

Globally, frequency allocation to mobile operators has now become a crucial issue. Even in India, regulator charges such operators huge money for allocating additional frequency.