Despite meeting all regulatory conditions and clearing dues and government-imposed penalties, Bangla Phone Limited has yet to receive the nationwide telecommunication transmission network licence, government documents showed.
The delay has raised questions among the company鈥檚 investors about procedural transparency within the country鈥檚 telecommunication regulatory system.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has recently issued a draft of the regulatory and licensing guidelines for the issuance of a licence for the National Infrastructure and Connectivity Service Provider.
The proposed NICSP would replace the existing NTTN, narrowing the possibility of obtaining an NTTN licence for Bangla Phone despite meeting all criteria.
An official of the posts, telecommunications and information technology ministry told 抖阴精品 that in the proposed guidelines, the NTTN category did not exist.
Regarding the compensation Bangla Phone paid, he said that the compensation was the outstanding dues for the company鈥檚 operations, it was not guarantee against the licence.
Bangla Phone had previously been denied a licence during the Awami League government鈥檚 tenure, as the AL regime, which was ousted in August past year in a mass uprising, allegedly wanted to maintain monopoly control in favour of Summit Communications and Fiber@Home Ltd.
The company reportedly also escaped several attempts of takeover during the Awami League regime and after its ouster.
Bangla Phone, a public switched telephone network and internet service provider licensed by the BTRC, began operations in 2004 under a non-resident Bangladeshi entrepreneur.
At that time, fibre optic鈥揵ased transmission networks were still rare in Bangladesh, though vital to modern telecommunications.
Taking an early initiative, Bangla Phone built its own fibre optic network, which was later used by major mobile operators, including聽 Robi, Teletalk, now defunct Citycell, and Banglalink.
In 2009, the BTRC introduced the NTTN licensing system and granted licences to Fiber@Home Limited and Summit Communications Limited.
Though the commission approved Bangla Phone鈥檚 NTTN application on October 16, 2011, the posts, telecommunications and information technology ministry did not permit the licence issuance.
On September 29, 2024, the company again applied for an NTTN licence through the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission鈥檚 licence issuance and management system following its September 30, 2024, letter to the commission inquiring whether it would reapply for the licence.
According to the company, the BTRC confirmed on October 21 that it had received all outstanding payments from Bangla Phone, including value-added tax, revenue sharing, delay fees and accrued interest.
On October 14, the commission asked it to pay Tk聽1.45 crore in administrative compensation, licence fees, VAT, and delay fees and the company complied with the instruction. On October 20, it also paid Tk聽2.20 lakh in interest on compensation.
Earlier, in a letter issued on July 21, the BTRC stated that there would be no further obstacle to granting the licence once the company paid the penalties of about Tk聽2.29 crore and an administrative compensation of Tk聽10 lakh. The company paid the sums too.
In the meantime, the company also paid a considerable amount of outstanding dues for its international internet gateway network and internet service provider network.
Following its September 2024 letter, the Posts and Telecommunications Division on November 26, 2024, instructed the commission to send a complete proposal regarding the NTTN licence, and the BTRC sent the complete information regarding Bangla Phone鈥檚 NTTN licence proposal on December 3 of the same year.
A four-member team from the ministry visited the Bangla Phone office on May 15, 2025.
On May 22,聽the BTRC submitted a detailed 鈥楻eport and Recommendation鈥� to the ministry, advocating for the issuance of the NTTN licence to Bangla Phone.
However, despite completing all payments and maintaining all procedures as per the BTRC and the ministry, the licence remains pending without any official explanation, company officials said.
A June 1 posts, telecommunications and information technology ministry directive said that Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant with the status of a state minister for the ministry, mentioned allegations of revenue leakage and unethical service expansion against the company.
The directive also stated that necessary actions would be taken once the fines were settled.
鈥榃e have paid all the dues, as instructed by the ministry and the regulator. Yet, there has been no progress or clear response about when we will finally get the licence, despite the fact that the regulator itself has officially admitted our legal and technical eligibility,鈥� Amjad H Khan, managing director of Bangla Phone Limited, told 抖阴精品.
He also said that the company had previously been denied a licence during the ousted AL regime, allegedly to maintain monopoly control in favour of Summit Communications and Fiber@Home Ltd.
Regarding the new guidelines of the BTRC, Amjad observed that once the draft guidelines were passed, those would again favour the interests of companies like Summit and Fiber@Home.
鈥楾he clause in the draft that states that any foreign or non-resident Bangladeshi applicant must have a minimum experience of three years of successful tower services or backhaul fibre optic cable services for at least 5,000 towers or a minimum 50,000 kilometres of transmission network on the date of application, would favour companies like Summit,鈥� he added.
Faiz Ahmed Taiyeb and other senior officials of the ministry could not be reached for comment on the matter despite repeated attempts.
Earlier, on May 30, 2010, the BTRC issued a no-objection certificate to Bangla Phone to import optical fibre cable and other equipment to set up facilities to provide internet and point-to-point data services to the country鈥檚 telecom operators.
It established about 14,500 kilometres of optical fibre across the country for the purpose.
On June 23, 2011, the company applied to the BTRC for an NTTN licence, and the commission cleared Bangla Phone for a licence on October 16 of the same year.
On February 16, 2014, the BTRC urged the ministry to make a decision regarding Bangla Phone鈥檚 licence, citing the papers and fees the company submitted with its application.
In the meantime, the government approved Bahon Limited鈥檚 NTTN licence as the existing Summit Communication and Fiber@Home covered only 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the country鈥檚 total area, respectively.
However, on July 6, 2014, the commission rejected Bangla Phone鈥檚 application for the NTTN licence and informed it about the rejection on July 10 of the same year.
In this regard, the company filed a writ petition with the High Court under section 40 of the BTRC Act 2001.
On February 7, 2016, a HC verdict stated that it found that the ministry did not issue a licence to Bangla Phone to create a monopoly for the two other companies.
Moreover, the NTTN licence has not been issued to any private companies except Summit and Fibre@Home, only to establish a monopoly business of those two companies, the verdict added.
The government also cancelled the company鈥檚 ISP licence on September 18, 2018, and its IIG licence on April 9, 2019, despite a positive intelligence report regarding the company submitted on April 15, 2018.
Bangla Phone MD Amjad H Khan said that even a company tried to take over his business using its (the company鈥檚) connection with the AL government, and many people in the country suggested that he should give the business to them.
After the fall of the Awami League regime, he reapplied for the licence.
鈥業 did whatever the ministry told and paid all the compensation they demanded, but I didn鈥檛 get the licence,鈥� he added.
He also said that he told Faiz Ahmed about it and he replied him that the next government would provide the licence.
鈥榃hy did they ask me for compensation if providing the licence would be the jurisdiction of the next government?鈥� he questioned.
He also alleged that a youth from a newly launched political party visited his office on September 28 and asked him to hand over the business to them.
Amjad also alleged that the interim government acted like the previous government and was trying to favour some companies.
He urged the government to take proper initiatives so that he could run a business in the country.