Cablegate: Licensing Conditions in the Telecommunications

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS DHAKA 003074

SIPDIS

TIMOTHY C. FINTON, EB/CIP; JONATHAN MCHALE, USTR;
PAUL NEUREITER, USTR.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECPS ETRD ECON EU BG
SUBJECT: LICENSING CONDITIONS IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SECTOR IN BANGLADESH

REF: STATE 114687

1. In Bangladesh, landline licenses are granted by division,
a geographic unit approximately equivalent to a state or
province. Licenses cost the same in all divisions and for
all companies, at 20 million Tk (about 312,500 USD).
Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
told EconOff that this fee is charged to cover administrative
costs and to generate revenue for the government. Licenses
must be renewed yearly, at a cost of 3 million Tk (about
46,875 USD).

2. BTRC does have a capitalization requirement for license
applicants. This is done to ensure the financial soundness
of the applying company. The capitalization required for
each division is the same except for Dhaka division, home to
Dhaka city, which has a higher requirement. The rights to
Dhaka Division's land line license are being contested by a
company that was offered exclusive privilege to it under the
previous, opposing party, government through a contract that
the current government does not want to honor.

3. According to local industry contacts, the BDG does not
require build-out investments.

THOMAS

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