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The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has suspended issuing new Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) licences as the existing companies are struggling to expand their services, says Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
The BTRC in a recent notice said no new company would be licenced until further notice. It also requested companies not to apply for a new licence.
The NTTN operators primarily provide optical fibre transmission services for mobile phone operators, internet service providers, and cable TV operators.
They are also working to help the government reach the target of building fibre optic networks across the country.
The BTRC says six licenced NTTN operators are operating in the country. Three of them are Fiber@homes, Summit Communications, and Bahan. Others are state-owned Bangladesh Railway, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company, and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh.
“In December 2019, we issued Bahan a licence, but they are unable to expand their operations as per our expectations,” Jabbar told The Business Post.
“Considering the existing six companies are enough to provide services, we decided not to allow any new company to overcrowd the market.”
In recent years, the NTTN operators had claimed they had been burdened with huge taxes and VAT imposed on transmission equipment imports and operations. But Jabbar said the existing tax and VAT were fair.
