Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Spectrum - - PDF document

Contact:

• Lt. Col. Mohammod Faisol

Director, Spectrum Division, BTRC Email: dirsm@btrc.gov.bd ASIA-PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY Document: SATRC Workshop on Spectrum Management SAPVII-WSSPEC/ INP-21 18 – 20 December 2019, Goa, India 18 December 2019 Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Spectrum licensing and pricing practices in Bangladesh

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Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

Spectrum Licensing and Pricing Practices in Bangladesh

Lt Col Mohammod Faisol Director Spectrum Division Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

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Aim

To provide a comprehensive idea on spectrum licensing and pricing practices in Bangladesh

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Sequence

Telecommunication in Bangladesh : At a Glance History of Spectrum Assignment Existing Spectrum Licensing and Pricing Practices Few Milestones in Spectrum Assignment 5G in Bangladesh

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Telecommunication in Bangladesh: At a Glance

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Telecommunication sector in Bangladesh have been developed rapidly in terms

• f

coverage, variety and quality. Cont…

Telecommunication in Bangladesh: At a Glance

The telecommunication services are growing continuously. People are using technologies for their business and personal communications even in the deep rural areas. The socio-economic impacts

• f

communication services are evident.

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The Government is quite sensitive to peoples’ aspiration and adopts a customer sensitive policy

• f

providing quality services at affordable prices.

Telecommunication in Bangladesh: At a Glance

Bangladesh has successfully brought the appropriate technologies to it’s people at reasonable prices.

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1993-1997 3 Districts 30 Districts 50 Districts 64 Districts 61 Districts 2000 2002 2004 At present

Cellular Mobile Services

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10th Largest Mobile Market 160 Million Active Mobile Subscriber 98 Million Internet Subscriber 57th Country to Launch Own Satellite 8.13% GDP Growth in 2018-2019 73 Million Mobile Banking User 6.2% GDP Contribution by Telecom Sector 2nd Largest Supplier of Online Workers 5G Trial Conducted in 2018

Telecommunication Indicators

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History of Spectrum Assignment

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1993-1G (PBTL) CDMA 2005 (15 MHz, GSM Bands to Warid Telecom Ltd (Airtel)) 2011 (2G License Renewed) 1996 -2G (GP, AKTEL, SHEBA) GSM 2013 ( 25 MHz for 3G ) 2008 (12 MHz spectrum to GP, ROBI and BL) 2018 ( 10.6 MHz from 1800 MHz and 5 MHz from 2100 MHz Band ) 2003-2004 (Additional 24.8 MHz, GSM )

Spectrum Assignment Milestones

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Existing Spectrum Licensing and Pricing Practices

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Methodology of Charging for Access to Spectrum

A ‘Rate List’ is available for most services outlining Radio Frequency Charges, with four main components covering frequency, power output, station/terminal charge and a license fee A ‘Formula’ based approach for calculating spectrum access fee for cellular mobile, broadband wireless access and PSTN operators In some cases there are other one-off charges associated with the issue of new licenses Applicants must pay a fee for the Application Form currently 500 Taka (USD 6 approx) and Application Processing Fee of 5000 Taka (USD 60 approx) is also payable at the time of submission of application

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Rate List

• Frequency Charge: Depends upon the amount of frequency used, the

band and the nature of the service

• Power Output Charge: Is a separate charge based on the power of

transmitters (varies according to the band as well)

• License Fee: Amount of 100 Taka = USD 1.2 approx
• Radio Station/ Terminal Charge: For certain types of equipment, in

addition to or instead of the above charges

Cont…

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14 License Fee Station/ Terminal Charge Administrative Fee (as in ITU Terminology) Frequency Charge Power Output Charge Spectrum Fee (as in ITU Terminology)

The system is a bit difficult to understand, particularly the liability for each type

• f category

Rate List

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Services Charged According to Rate List

Service Name Exemption Television Broadcasting Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge Sound Broadcasting (FM/AM) Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge Aeronautical Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge LMR/PMR No Exemptions Maritime Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge Amateur Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge, Station Charge V-SAT Frequency Charge, Power Output Charge

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Formula Based Approach

Spectrum Charges in Taka = STU x CF x BW x AF x BF

• BW is the assigned Bandwidth in MHz
• CF is the Contribution Factor, Varies With the subscriber base of

the operator(the more the subscribers, the higher the CF)

• Where, STU is the Spectrum Tariff Unit, Currently set at 70 Taka

(Less than a dollar)

• AF is the Area Factor
• BF is the Band Factor, which varies according to the band of the

service in question

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Category Charge Annual License Fees Fixed Fees (e.g BDT 50 M for cellular mobile operators) Revenue Sharing Applicable to mobile operators (5.5% of Annual Audited Gross Revenue) and BWA Operators (exempted for the 1st Year, 2% of Annual Audited Gross Revenue in the 2nd year, and 4% in each subsequent year). Social Obligation Fund 3G Operators also required to pay 1% of Annual Audited Gross Revenue to fund telecom infrastructure in underprivileged areas.

Other Fees

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Few Landmarks in Spectrum Assignment

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Auction, 2008

• WiMax license was given to Baglalion and Qubee with the

cost of BDT 215 Crore Taka.

• Banglalion was awarded with 35 MHz from 2.5 GHz Band.
• Qubee was awarded with 35 MHz from 2.3 GHz Band

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Auction, 2013

• The opening bid price was 20 million USD.
• A total of 8 blocks of 5 MHz (paired spectrum) each were put

up for auction.

• Each bidder was eligible to purchase a maximum of 2 blocks.
• The license was awarded at the winning auction price of 21

million USD per/MHz.

• 5 blocks of spectrum were sold among four bidders (GP = 10

MHz, ROBI = 5 MHz, BL = 5 MHz, AIRTEL = 5 MHz).

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Auction, 2018

• The opening bid price was 30 million USD for 900 & 1800 MHz

bands and 27 million USD for 2100 MHz band.

• A total of 46.4 MHz (paired spectrum) were put up for auction.
• Each bidder was eligible to purchase a maximum of 33.4 MHz.
• The license was awarded at the winning auction price of 31

million USD per/MHz for 1800 MHz and 28 million USD for 2100 MHz band.

• 10.6 MHz from 1800 MHz and 5 MHz from 2100 MHz were sold

among two bidders (GP awarded 5 MHz & BL awarded 5.6 MHz from 1800 MHz band, and only BL awarded 5.00 from 2100 MHz band).

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5G in Bangladesh

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5G Readiness

 Trial on 5G Network conducted on 25 July 2018  Draft Roadmap of 5G is already prepared by BTRC  Committee is formed for drafting Policy, Guidelines and Directives

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5G Spectrum for Bangladesh

 Globally Harmonized by ITU  5G Candidate Bands:

• 2500-2690 MHz (190 MHz)
• 3300-3700 MHz (400 MHz)
• 26 GHz, 28 GHz, 32 GHz, 38 GHz, 40 GHz and 43 GHz

Cont…

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5G Spectrum for Bangladesh

 Spectrum Release Plan  Price of Spectrum  Spectrum Awarding Procedure

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