Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued notices to show cause two mobile phone operators — Grameenphone (GP) and Robi — as to why their licences would not be revoked for not paying audit claims.
In separate notices on Thursday (Sept 5), both operators have been asked to explain why their licences of 2G and 3G services would not be cancelled and given 30 days to explain, said BTRC spokesperson Zakir Hossain Khan.
A BTRC audit on the two mobile phone operators in 2016 claimed over Tk 125.8 billion from Grameenphone, the leader in the country’s telecom service sector, and over Tk 8.67 billion, Robi, the second-largest operator, in taxes and late fees accumulated over several years.
On Jul 4 this, the BTRC slashed Grameenphone’s bandwidth by 30% and Robi’s by 15% for failing to clear the payment of the dues.
But they lifted the block on bandwidth on Jul 17 considering the inconvenience it was causing the subscribers.
On Jul 22, the BTRC decided not to give any kind of approval to the two mobile phone operators to roll out new packages or services, or import network equipment to pressure them into clearing their dues.