“Zia Ahmed, the head of the Bangladesh Telecommunications and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has announced that guidelines for 3G licensing will be complete by June 2010, ahead of an open auction of at least four UMTS network operating concessions by the end of the year. A number of major international telecoms companies have already indicated their interest, Ahmed added, whilst other BTRC officials were quoted in a report from AFP saying that UK-based mobile giant Vodafone Group had approached the regulator for permission to apply for a licence. India?s Airtel also seems likely to place a bid, after its proposed offer for a majority stake in the Bangladeshi mobile unit of Warid Telecom recently received regulatory approval. ”
Bangladesh’s telecom regulator announced Wednesday that licences to run third generation (3G) mobile services will be auctioned this year in a bid to attract billions of dollars of investment.

The move follows Monday’s approval of Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel’s 300 million dollar bid for the country’s fourth largest mobile phone operator Warid from Abu Dhabi-based Dhabi Group.

“We are finalising guidelines for 3G licensing (which) will be finished by June 2010,” Zia Ahmed, head of Bangladesh Telecommunications and Regulatory Commission, told AFP.

At least four slots of bandwidth will be sold off at open auction by the end of 2010 and a number of top telecom companies have already indicated their interest, Ahmed said.

BTRC officials, who declined to be named, said British mobile phone giant Vodafone had approached the commission for a 3G license.

Ahmed also said BTRC would open up its international telecommunications gateway to the private sector, which would for the first time allow operators to lay underwater cables and connect terrestrial lines with India.

“All these (moves) will create a new dynamism in the market and ensure at least one billion dollars of new investment in the telecoms sector this year,” Ahmed said.

The Bharti deal alone will bring in “much more” than the original 300 million dollar investment, he added.

Bharti is the latest foreign company to make in-roads into the fast-growing Bangladesh mobile market.

In 2004, Egyptian Orascom took over Sheba, and Singapore’s state-owned Singtel bought a 45 percent stake in Bangladesh Telecom in 2005.

Last year Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. paid 350 million dollars to buy a 30 percent stake in operator AKTEL, majority owned by Axiata of Malaysia.

The moves to attract investment for 2010 come as growth in Bangladesh’s mobile market has slowed due to lack of infrastructure investment.

“Companies have been reluctant to invest heavily in network expansion. As a result, telecom penetration could not achieve our desired level,” Ahmed said.

The country’s six mobile phone operators have a combined 52 million subscribers — 35 percent of the country’s population.

Experts predict the number of mobile customers will pass 100 million by 2015.

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