State-owned Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) further amends the submarine cable guideline to woo private as well as foreign investment.
It eases the provision of 'previous experience' with a submarine cable-operating licence.
The amended 'Regulatory and Licensing Guidelines for Invitation of Offers/Proposals for Issuing License to Build, Operate and Maintain Submarine Cable Systems and Services in Bangladesh was issued on Monday.
The BTRC stipulates that any aspirant for a licence need not have any previous experience in operating submarine cable.
The amendment replaces "having considerable experience in submarine cable systems and services for granting licence" with "having considerable experience in telecommunication services for granting licence to establish, maintain and operate such system for use in Bangladesh".
Post and telecommunications minister Mustafa Jabbar told the FE that the amendment was carried out to widen the area for prospective investments.
"Setting up submarine cable company requires a lot of money, if we only keep focusing on experience, we may end up finding nobody for new licence."
Mr Jabbar says investors are not required to have all the experience; they can hire expertise.
Bangladesh is badly in need of private and foreign investment in the sectors, including submarine cable operation, he adds.
"We have only one state-owned company in submarine cable systems and services, we need more in the 5G era," mentions the minister.
The new guideline also removes the barrier of 100-per cent foreign ownership to establish, maintain and operate submarine cable systems and services here.
"In case of foreign investment," according to the amendments, "the entity shall invest foreign currency directly according to its percentage of ownership and shall not be allowed to take any loan from any Bangladeshi lending firms."
"After fulfilment of rollout obligation, if loan is required for operational purpose/business expansion, the entity can take maximum 20 per cent of its total loan from any Bangladeshi banks."
Earlier, the BTRC removed the clause that allowed only two companies in the market.
The previous clause reads: "The Commission will issue maximum 02 (two) licences for Submarine Cable Systems and Services in Bangladesh under International Long-distance Telecommunication Policy-2010 and as per the terms and conditions of the guideline…"
BTRC officials say the government wants to attract more local and foreign investments in the sector in a bid to create an ecosystem for competitive and high-quality internet in the 5G era.
The country might face bandwidth scarcity by 2024 when its demand would reach 6.0 terabyte per second (Tbps).
Its appetite for bandwidth consumption has grown over the years and the outbreak of coronavirus has enhanced the rate further, prompting the government to go for alternative sources of bandwidth.
According to BTRC data, the country's bandwidth usage jumped by 634 Gbps to 1,826 Gbps in November 2020. Its demand was 1,192 Gbps in December 2019.
Of the bandwidth, the lone state-run Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) is supplying around 85 per cent of the demand to users due to its cost efficiency and reliability.
According to the amendment, the number of licences will be decided by the government in order to ensure diversity, fair competition, uninterrupted and efficient telecom services.
Although there was a provision for two companies, the BSCCL is the core telecommunications service provider and international submarine cable operator of Bangladesh until now.
It is also an IIG (International Internet Gateway).
The BSCCL service represents the long-haul communication between Bangladesh and the rest of the world.
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