Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Tuesday earned Tk. 5268.51 crore in revenue from 4G spectrum auction and tech neutrality fees from three mobile operators.

The country’s telecom regulator held the auction for allocating new frequencies to mobile operators at Dhaka Club in the capital.

Banglalink took 10.6 MHz spectrum from different two bands - 2100 and 1800, with a price of Tk. 2558 crore while Grameenphone took 5MHz from 1800 band with a price of Tk. 1284 crore, BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood told media after the auction.

The government also earned another Tk. 850.4 crore as tech neutrality fees from three operators: GP, Banglalink and Robi, and VAT of total Tk. 5289.08 crore, he added.

‘The official documents for 4G licenses and the allocated frequencies will be handed over to the operators on Feb 20,’ said the BTRC chief.

Speaking on the occasion, he expressed the hope that mobile phone operators will be able to boost up the speed with 4G enabled services and also the service quality of the existing 3G will be enhanced.

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, ‘We no more want to hear customer’s complaint as they use the network after paying money.’

To the mobile operators, he said, ‘Quality should be increased. We have enough frequency so that you can buy more.’

‘Though I am a minister, I can’t talk properly as at least 8 times the call is dropped. Why can’t you provide quality service? I have given you tech neutrality facility.’

‘As soon as we will be able to provide high speed internet, will be able to build Digital Bangladesh,’ he further said.

The state-owned Teletalk earlier declined to apply to sit in the spectrum auction.

The second largest mobile operator, Robi, did not participate in the auction as they thought their existing spectrum will be enough for offering 4G services.