BTRC to study market before giving nod to Robi-Airtel merger

The telecom regulator now plans to conduct a study on the socio-economic implications of the proposed merger of Robi and Airtel before giving a final approval to the merger.

On Sunday, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) sent offer letters to two teachers for conducting the study.

The teachers are Mahfuzur Rahman, a professor of the international business department under business faculty at Dhaka University, and ABM Siddique Hossain, dean of the engineering faculty at American International University-Bangladesh.

The commission is going for the market study, as it has never dealt with any proposal of merger before, said Sarwar Alam, spokesperson and BTRC secretary.

The teachers were asked to focus on eight points and complete the task in two months, said a senior official of the BTRC. "The regulator will take the next step depending on the recommendations from the study."

Through the study, the BTRC wants to know about the impact of the merger on the commission's spectrum auction roadmap and its revenue collection, the official said. The study will also assess impact on the existing telecom licences, network and services.

The researchers were asked to find out how the merger will influence subscribers and affect the overall telecom industry.

The issues of possible job losses and voluntary retirement due to the merger will also be examined.

The decision of conducting the study was taken after Shahjahan Mahmood joined the BTRC as its new chairman in October.

On September 30, the BTRC had primarily approved the request for the merger.