Citycell’s SC hearing on curbing spectrum Oct 31

The Supreme Court today fixed October 31 for hearing a petition of mobile operator Citycell seeking directives on the government for reinstating its spectrum allocation.

Citycell filed the petition yesterday five days after Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) suspended its spectrum allocation as it failed to pay its total dues in time.

The mobile operator in the petition claimed that it paid Tk 130 crore to the BTRC and Tk 14 crore to National Board of Revenue in installments.

The petition was moved before the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique today. The chamber judge sent the petition to the full bench of the appellate division and fixed October 31 for the hearing.

Earlier on July 31, the regulator asked Citycell customers to switch to other operators by August 16, as it had decided to suspend its operations.

The dues include spectrum renewal fee at Tk 229 crore, annual licence fee of Tk 10 crore, annual spectrum fee of Tk 27.14 crore, VAT Tk 39.92 crore and late fees of Tk 135 crore, according to a BTRC notice.