Teletalk became a thorn in the throat: Faiz Taiyeb slams previous government
It has now appeared as ‘a thorn in throat,’ he says
The previous Awami League government had left the state-owned mobile phone network operator, Teletalk, in a completely non-functional state, which has now appeared as a thorn in throat, Chief Adviser's Special Assistant on Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb has said.
"They have left the company in a state of near-collapse due to the negligence," the special assistant elaborated the condition via his verified Facebook page in early hours today (12 August), saying the lone mobile phone operator has been operating with less spectrum allocation than its competitors across the country.
"It's now become a serious stumbling block for us," lamented Taiyeb, mentioning that with just one-fifth the number of 2G towers and a mere tenth in 4G compared to private operators, Teletalk's skeletal infrastructure has crippled its ability to deliver quality voice and internet services.
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Since its inception, he said, the operator has sought spectrum according to its needs at various times. However, considering the overall subscriber base and network infrastructure of the country, Teletalk has not received proportionate allocation in any spectrum band compared to other operators. "Rather, it received significantly less and insufficient spectrum."
Taiyeb said that despite a high public demand for Teletalk SIMs in the early days, the operator failed to acquire a significant number of subscribers over one and a half decades, which he attributed to its own weak management.
He continued that providing a quality voice and internet service with such minimal number of towers is nearly impossible. Additionally, new problems have arisen in rural areas where Teletalk has no investment, leading to the wastage of spectrum.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb said, "After we took charge, we found that Teletalk had no low-band spectrum for providing quality 4G service, only a small amount in mid-band, and no investment for utilising upper mid-band spectrum."
He mentioned that while the Awami League had secured some funds through G2G (government-to-government) agreements, those were wasted and looted through corruption.
Due to a lack of visionary planning and sufficient investment during the tenure of the previous government, he said, the number of existing BTS (base transceiver station) sites remained inadequate, and thus the allocated spectrum could not be fully utilised.
However, in remote areas such as Sundarbans, haor (wetland) regions, and hilly areas, Teletalk's network coverage is relatively better, and the allocated spectrum is being used effectively, though spectrum shortages still exist in those areas, he noted.
In exchange for Teletalk's spectrum allocation, Taiyeb said, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's (BTRC) outstanding dues have previously been proposed by the Posts and Telecommunications Division to the Ministry of Finance for conversion into equity.
If this matter is resolved, the outstanding dues can be transferred from one government account to another, he said, adding that if the proposal is approved, it may be possible to settle Teletalk's outstanding liabilities related to spectrum.
However, in this context, consideration could also be given to whether, similar to neighbouring countries, spectrum can be allocated to the state-owned Teletalk's favour through an executive order. This approach could help avoid such complications in the future, he opined.
The special assistant said that since Teletalk is a state-owned company, the capital required for spectrum acquisition essentially depends on government-allocated funds. There have been longstanding issues of dues and the amount owed among various ministries and their internal agencies.
Outstanding payments and transactions exist both between ministries and among departments and agencies within the same ministry, he said, adding that in the case of government institutions, such outstanding dues are a common scenario.
Therefore, the ministry does not entertain any notion of halting Teletalk's spectrum allocation or similar ideas by making this an issue, especially considering its role as a strategic service provider, he noted.
Rather, there is a global practice, including in countries like India and Pakistan, of allocating premium spectrum to state-owned strategic telecom companies to ensure coverage expansion in disaster-prone areas (where commercial players are unwilling to go), maintain market competition and balance Significant Market Power (SMP), protect consumer-friendly mobile call and internet pricing standards, and keep the spectrum allocation process competitive, he said.
He said that it has been done, ensuring coverage in disaster-prone areas, preserving market competition, balancing Significant Market Power (SMP), safeguarding affordable mobile and internet pricing, and maintaining a fair spectrum allocation process.
"Taking these four factors into account, we consider it essential to gather expert opinions, both domestic and international, and especially citizen expectations, to determine the appropriate policy of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology regarding spectrum allocation to state-owned mobile network service providers," he added.
