Clarifying the issue over a reported ‘legal notice to the President’, Norwegian multinational telecommunications company Telenor Group has said it sent an invitation letter for dialogue to the President of Bangladesh, not a legal notice.
Telenor Group's director for Group Communication Asia Cathrine Stang Lund made the claim in a statement on Sunday, reports UNB on Monday.
According to the treaty process, she said, such letters should be sent to Heads of State.
Telenor made Bilateral Investment Treaty with the Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Singapore.
Earlier on Thursday, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said Grameenphone has sent a legal notice to the Bangladesh President through a legal agency in Singapore seeking arbitration with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) over its dues.
Cathrine Stang Lund said, “It’s Telenor Group’s position that we believe the disputed audit should be solved through dialogue, and that an amicable and transparent solution should be reached between the authorities of Bangladesh and Grameenphone.”
“It remains our hope that this can be solved without international arbitration. It’s an agreement establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one state in another state,” the statement said.
The statement further said, “Bangladesh has around 30 bilateral investment treaties. The procedures adhered to by Telenor are agreed in the treaty and Telenor is following due process.”
“The process itself is governed by the treaty, and includes a period of six months for discussions after initial invitation letter, before any further steps towards international arbitration can be taken,” the statement added.
On November 24, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court asked mobile phone operator Grameenphone to pay within three months Tk 20.00 billion of the Tk 125.80 billion dues as claimed by BTRC.
The BTRC claims dues of Tk 125.80 billion in 27 sectors from GP. Having failed to recover the money, the BTRC on April 2 sent a notice to GP threatening to revoke its licence.
Later, GP moved a lower court seeking a temporary injunction on the BTRC’s notice which was turned down on August 28. Later, it filed an appeal with the High Court.
