Bangladesh Raises Nearly $1.24Bn in Telecom Spectrum Auction

The auction, which began at the InterContinental Hotel in Dhaka at 11:15 am on Thursday, sold 190 MHz of spectrum to four bidders – Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink, and state-owned operator Teletalk.

The auction featured 10 blocks of 100MHz waves in the 2.3 GHz band and 12 blocks of 120 MHz waves in the 2.6 GHz band.

The base price for each MHz on the spectrum was set at $6.5 million for a unit on a 15-year contract.

Of the buyers, Grameenphone – the country’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscriber count – and Robi purchased 60 MHz airwaves in the 2.6 GHz band each. Banglalink bought 40 MHz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz range, while Teletalk bought 30 MHz in the range.

Grameenphone previously owned 46.40 MHz of the spectrum, Robi had the right to use 44 MHz, Banglalink 40 MHz and Teletalk 25.20 MHz.

A total of 220 MHz were up for grabs in Thursday’s auction, the largest in Bangladesh’s history. Thirty MHz airwaves remained unsold.

Operators have to pay 10 percent of the total purchase price within 60 days of the announcement of the final auction results, while the remaining 90 percent will be paid off in equal installments over 9 years.

Currently, 4G services are operational in Bangladesh. Once 5G service is introduced, mobile internet speed is expected to increase severalfold.

The auction was inaugurated by Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, the commissioner of the BTRC Spectrum Division and the convener of the auction management committee.

Minister of Post and Telecommunications Mustafa Jabbar and other senior officials were in attendance.