The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) plans to conduct a long-awaited 4G auction by December, issuing spectrum in the 900-MHz, 1800-MHz and 2100-MHz bands.
The regulator has set a floor price of $30 million for each megahertz of spectrum in the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz and $27 million for each MHz in the 2100-MHz band, BDNews24reported.
Operators are expected to roll out 4G as soon as licenses are allocated, and the regulator hopes that 4G services will be available in Bangladesh by the end of the year.
The auction will have a condition of rolling out service to district headquarters within 18 months of receiving a license and nationwide within three years.
The report states that operators have complained they will not be able to see a substantial return on the estimated 226 billion taka ($2.75 billion) they will need to invest to achieve this coverage target.
The reserve prices are significantly higher than the $15 million per MHz reserve for all three bands that had been proposed by the market's mobile operators.
Operators will also need to pay a 1.5 billion taka fee to participate in bidding for each band and the same amount as a bank performance guarantee, and pay 6.5% of their gross revenue to the regulator as a combined usage fee and social obligation payment.
But the regulator has agreed to reduce the spectrum conversion fee to allow technology neutrality in existing 900-MHz and 1800-MHz spectrum to $7.5 million per MHz from the earlier $10 million.
Currently market leader Grameenphone has a combined 22 MHz of spectrum across the two bands, Robi holds 26.4 MHz, Banglalink has 15 MHz and state-owned Teletalk holds 15.2 MHz.