Teletalk to 'die' if funds not injected: Tarana

Teletalk will not survive if the government does not allocate adequate funds for the state-run mobile operator, said Tarana Halim, state minister for telecom, yesterday.

In a press conference at her secretariat office, she said she is trying to get a funding of Tk 610 crore for a Teletalk project to establish 1,200 stations capable of providing 3G and 4G services along with 500 2G towers.

"Teletalk will die if the government does not provide the funds immediately. We are getting a step-motherly treatment from the finance ministry in this regard," Tarana said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also approved the project in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council but the finance ministry is yet to disburse the fund, she said.

In two Ecnec meetings, members brought up this project and the prime minister also spoke in favour of Teletalk.

The prime minister even instructed that all the dues that Teletalk owes to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulator Commission must be converted into government grant.

"But that is also not moving forward."

Teletalk owes about Tk 2,000 crore to the telecom regulator, which includes 3G spectrum and licence fees.

The prime minister also told everyone to consider Teletalk a government service provider and not as a business entity, Tarana said.

The state-owned operator's revenues are fast shrinking as customers complain of poor service.

"Teletalk is moving backwards every day," she said. In fiscal 2016-17, Teletalk's revenue shrunk about 28 percent year-on-year to Tk 710 crore -- the lowest in three years.

It also lost about 12.3 lakh active connections, which is 27.72 percent of its subscribers according to a BTRC report.