Citycell requests licence restoration

Bangladesh’s first telecom operator, Citycell, has requested the return of its cancelled licence. 

Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd, Citycell’s owner, made the request in a letter sent to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on September 1, according to media reports.

It asked for the return of both the operating and radio equipment licences. 

In the letter, the company claimed that its frequency had been initially suspended due to political vendetta, blaming former state minister for telecommunications Tarana Halim for this. 

Subsequently, the licence was cancelled while the matter was still under judicial consideration, according to the company.

At the time, the BTRC had said Citycell's license had been revoked due to unpaid dues amounting to Tk218 crore.

Pacific Telecom mentioned that shutting down Ciycell’s frequency had resulted in losses amounting to around Tk4,000 crore over the past eight years, including bank loans, unpaid employee wages and infrastructure damage. 

It said the telecom operator could have generated approximately Tk2,000 crore in revenue had its operations not been halted, adding that the government had missed out on approximately Tk430 crore in taxes and fees.

Pacific Telecom's head of regulatory and corporate affairs, Nishat Ali Khan, said the matter was still under judicial consideration, and therefore, the BTRC could not cancel the licence. 

He also accused the erstwhile government of abusing its power and called for redress.

Citycell was the only mobile operator in the country using CDMA technology. 

The BTRC shut down Citycell’s frequency on June 11, 2017.