Mobile
operators are planning to outsource the maintenance of the base transceiver
systems (BTSs) – mobile towers – to a third party and instigate a
network-sharing mechanism to cut down operational costs, telecom industry
sources said. A number of Indian companies, including Quippo Telecom, Idea
Cellular and Viom Networks, are keen to take the mandate of maintaining the
BTSs. Viom Networks, one of the four largest telecom companies that maintain
over 40,000 BTSs owned by various cellphone operators in India, recently
offered Bangladesh’s largest mobile operator, Grameenphone, to look after its
14,000 mobile towers. Quippo Telecom, which maintains over 5,000 BTSs, owned by
various companies, throughout India, is keen on getting the mandate of
maintaining about 5,200 BTSs of Banglalink, the second largest operator of the
country, sources said. Officials of both Grameenphone and Banglalink declined
to comment on the issue, arguing that handing over the maintenance of BTSs is a
big operational decision and the companies are in talks with the telecom
regulator and the stakeholders to give shape to the plans. Meanwhile, Robi, the
third largest operator, has sought permission of the telecom regulatory to hand
over the maintenance work of its 8,200 BTS to an associate organization,
sources added. The company has already started talks with India- based Idea
Cellular, which is owned 20 per cent by the Malaysia-based Axiata Ltd, the
parent company of Robi. Robi wants to cut down both costs and employee strength
by outsourcing the maintenance of BTSs to a third party, and renew its focus on
customer service, a company official said. The telecom regulator, Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), has in principle supported the
operator's proposal and is scrutinizing the existing law for its viability.
“The commission is considering allowing the operators' move to shift the BTS
maintenance to associated bodies or third parties as they (operators) want to
come out of the complexities of tower maintenance,” BTRC chairman Major General
(retd) Zia Ahmed said. BTRC is looking for an option as to how the operators
can hand over the maintenance of BTSs under the existing law, Ahmed said. A
separate policy will be needed to legalize the lone job of tower maintenance,
the telecom regulator chief said. Section 35 of the Telecommunication Act-2010
says that an operator cannot construct and operate any telecommunication
infrastructure for providing services without having a telecom licensee, he
pointed out. It would be impossible for third parties to enter the maintenance
scene unless the provisions were changed in their favors, experts said. Third
party maintenance of telecom infrastructure is existent in many countries, a
BTRC official said. Telecom operators in those countries buy BTS services from
companies specifically engaged in that business, obviating the need for
spending large sums on putting up BTSs, he added. The telecom regulator has
already started preparing a guideline under which the mobile operators will be
able to share their networks, BTRC chairman said. Under the existing
regulations, the mobile operators can now share among themselves their basic
infrastructure, including buildings or high-rise tops or even the towers, BTRC
sources said. The new guideline will allow them to share one another’s
base-transceiver system (BTS), they further said. Under the new guideline, the
mobile operators will need to spend less on building their infrastructure,
Ahmed told The Independent. Also, it will lessen the cost of import of various
network maintenance instruments, he added. The new guideline will give the
smallest of operators as much leverage in terms of service reach, as enjoyed by
the largest one, he further said.
