Highlights:

• BTRC supports dark fiber for mobile operators ahead of 5G rollout
• Mobile operators banned from building fiber networks since 2009
• 53% of the fiber optic network is aerial, which affects performance
• Bangladesh ranks 70th out of 93 in Fiber Development Index 2023
• NTTN now covers all upazilas and over 4,000 unions

The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is prioritizing improving telecom services for the public over revenue considerations for the industry and the state, according to BTRC Chairman Maj. General (retired) Md Emdad Ul Bari.

Speaking at a roundtable, Bari said today: “We need to revise the legal framework to improve the quality of services, as it is a crucial part of the stakeholder triangle – services, sustainability financial performance of ecosystem players and state revenues.

The Telecom and Technology Reporter’s Network of Bangladesh organized the event titled ‘Importance of National Telecom Network for the Future of Bangladesh’ at the BTRC office in Agargaon, the capital.

In response to complaints from telecom operators about service quality being affected by the performance of dedicated transmission companies, Bari said he supports the introduction of dark fiber for mobile operators ahead of 5G deployment.

Dark fiber could hurt revenues at the National Telecommunications Transmission Network (NTTN), while telcos could benefit from increased volumes pushed towards lower prices, industry experts told TBS.

In a bid to separate telecommunications services and core infrastructure, in 2009 the BTRC banned mobile operators from laying core fiber optic cables and left this activity to dedicated NTTN operators.

Mobile operators at the roundtable complained that the three NTTN operators still have 53% of their fibers over 1.71 lakh kilometers overhead, leading to poor performance. The two largest private NTTN operators, Fiber@Home Limited and Summit Communications Limited, have only 16-28% of their fiber underground, as required by the guideline.

Additionally, less than a third of the country’s more than 45,000 cell towers are connected by optical fiber, which should be much higher for seamless and affordable services as basic cable connectivity is better than that. wireless, they said.

In 2023, Bangladesh ranked 70th out of 93 countries in Omdia’s Fiber Development Index analysis, slightly ahead of countries like Pakistan, Uganda and Nigeria, Shahedul Alam said, general director and head of regulation of Robi Axiata, criticizing the policy that does not allow telecommunications operators to invest in basic infrastructure.

Nigeria is the only country with such a level of fiber optic network, he said.

NTTN, which caters to all upazilas and over 4,000 unions, contributed to the expansion of the national network, but about 30% of the invested capital was provided by the state, the BTRC president said , emphasizing the need to invest massively in telecommunications infrastructure.

Representatives of Fiber@Home and Summit Communications, on the other hand, blamed the low ROI that threatens their financial viability and sought a win-win proposition in the future industrial landscape.

Moynul Haque Siddiqui, president of Fiber@Home, said telecom operators spend only 1% of their revenue with NTTN, compared to 7% in other countries.

Taimur Rahman, Banglalink’s director of corporate and regulatory affairs, said mobile operators should also be allowed to install optical fiber while insisting on more active sharing of industry resources.

Rashed Mehedi, former chairman of the Telecom and Technology Reporters’ Network of Bangladesh, called for collaborative solutions to the sector’s infrastructure problems.