Dhaka, Nov 10 – Hours after the telecommunications ministry ordered BTRC to renew 2G licences of all the four major mobile operators, the telecom regulator says it would wait for the court verdict.
"The process of licence renewal will start once the issue of market competition factor over the fee of spectrum assigned for the year 2008 and VAT is settled in the court," BTRC chairman Zia Ahmed told the reporters after a meeting on Thursday.
He said BTRC took the decision to honour the court and added, "We've informed the operators concerned about the matter. None of them objected until the evening."
Mobile operators will be able to run their operations until the verdict without any obstruction, in line with an earlier court directive.
Asked why licences of Robi and Citycell were not renewed, Zia said, "The decision [not to renew their licences] was taken to maintain same status for all operators."
"Robi and Citycell also paid the fees for spectrum and licence renewal excluding VAT," he added.
Grameenphone's chief communications officer Qazi Monirul Kabir told bdnews24.com, "We are hopeful that the court will give the verdict soon and the licence renewal process will get accelerated."
Banglalink general manager (regulatory affairs) Mashid Rahman said they have no objection to the BTRC stance. "Everything depends on the court verdict."
Robi vice president Mohiuddin Babar said, "We hope the issue will be settled soon."
Citycell head of corporate communications Taslim Ahmed declined to comment on the matter since he is abroad.
Earlier in the day, the government ordered BTRC to renew 2G licences for all the four major mobile operators if there is no legal or policy restriction.
Banglalink and Citycell paid the spectrum assignment fees on Wednesday, Robi on Nov 2 and Grameenphone on Oct 31.
The High Court on Oct 26 stayed the effectiveness of a BTRC notice asking Grameenphone to pay additional Tk 2.37 billion for the radio frequency in 1800 megahertz band.
After the hearing, GP's lawyer Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury had told bdnews24.com that the telecom regulator, in a letter issued on Oct 17, asked the company to pay Tk 30.624 billion in fees for licence renewal and spectrum allocation.
"The letter asked the company not to deduct taxes and VAT from the money," he said and added that the court ordered for steps over the claim of VAT and taxes in line with the Statutory Regulatory Order issued on June 30, 2010.
Another GP lawyer, Fazle Noor Taposh, had said according to laws, the National Board of Revenue is the authority to receive taxes and VAT.
On Nov 1, Appellate Division chamber judge Justice M Imman Ali felt embarrassed to hear a BTRC petition, prompting the chief justice to send it to justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.
On Nov 3, justice Mahmud directed BTRC to maintain a status quo on the notice for payment of spectrum assignment fee and Value Added Tax (VAT) by Grameenphone.
BTRC was also directed to allow Grameenphopne to continue with its operations uninterrupted until further orders.
A regular appeals court bench will hear on Nov 14 the BTRC plea against the High Court order that stayed its notice on Grameenphone for payment.
bdnews24.com
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