Grameenphone (GP) has paid one thousand crore taka to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The amount of money was paid on behalf of the organization on Sunday afternoon. Senior Assistant Director (Public Relations) of BTRC Zakir Hossain Khan confirmed the matter. Besides, Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar in his verified facebook page wrote, I have got the good news. Grameenphone has paid 1 thousand crore taka. Earlier, at around 3:30 pm a four-member representative team of Grameenphone went to BTRC office and handed over the one thousand crore taka pay order to the authority. GP Head of Regulatory Sadat Hossain led the representative team. On Wednesday Supreme Court Appellate Division ordered GP to pay one thousand crore taka by Monday. Besides, the Appellate Division fixed the date today to deliver order on review petition filed by GP. AH    

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered country’s leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) to pay Taka 1,000 crore to Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) by Monday. A seven-member apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order, after holding hearing on a plea by GP to review the Appellate Division’s earlier order. Lawyers Mahbubey Alam and Khandaker Reza-e-Rakib moved the case for BTRC, while AM Amin Uddin and Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury argued for GP. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on November 24, 2019, had ordered GP to pay Taka 2,000 crore of audit objections to BTRC within three months. But the mobile phone operator was willing to pay Taka 100 crore within the time and continued negotiations with BTRC. During Thursday’s hearing, Grameenphone sought six months of time more to pay Taka 2,000 crore in installments. Scrapping the plea, the apex court ordered the mobile phone operator to pay Taka 1,000 crore by Monday and also fixed the day for passing a further order in this regard. BTRC on April 2 demanded around Taka 12,580 crore from GP as dues in different items. The telecom operator later filed a case with the lower court, seeking a temporary injunction on realization of the money. But the court on August 28 scrapped the plea of GP, making it to file the appeal with the High Court. Source: BSS AH

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has rejected an offer made by private mobile operator Grameenphone (GP) to deposit Tk 100 crore dues. GP’s Head of Regulatory Affairs Hossain Sadat disclosed the information at a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel on Wednesday. He said they will carry on their dialogue with the telecom regulator. On November 24, the Appellate Division asked GP to pay Tk 2,000 crore of the Tk 12,579.95 crore dues claimed by BTRC within three months. The deadline will expire on February 23. BTRC claimed the dues in 27 sectors from the mobile operator but failed to recover the money. Later, BTRC sent a notice to GP threatening to revoke its license on April 2 last year. But GP moved the court seeking a temporary injunction on the notice which was turned down on August 28 that year. The mobile operator later filed an appeal with the High Court. On October 17, the High Court imposed a two-month injunction on realization of dues from GP. BTRC later moved the Appellate Division against the order. Source: UNB AH

Yasir Azman became the first Bangladeshi to be appointed as new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of country’s leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone. Grameenphone’s Board of Directors announced his appointment on Thursday which would be effective from February 1, said a Grameenphone press release. Appointment of new CEO of Grameenphone has taken place when the operator was engaged in a virtual scuffle with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) over the financial and technical audit to the operator’s book since their inception up to 2015. Yasir Azman has served as Chief Market Officer (CMO) of Grameenphone since June 2015 and also as Deputy CEO of the company since May 2017. Before that, Azman was Telenor Group’s Head of Distribution and eBusiness and worked across all Telenor operations. Grameenphone through this new appointment also followed the footstep of another operator Robi Axiata. Robi earlier appointed Mahtab Uddin Ahmed as first Bangladeshi Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Azman is replacing current CEO Michael Foley, who is being relocated to Africa, where his family is based. “Yasir Azman has risen through the ranks of Grameenphone and Telenor Group, and I am very pleased that he has accepted to lead our operations in Bangladesh as the first home-grown CEO of Grameenphone,” said Petter-BorreFurberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grameenphone. “Azman has been responsible for running one of Telenor Group’s highest performing commercial organizations while also serving as deputy CEO of the company. I am confident he will continue to deliver great results in his new challenge as CEO,” he added. Michael Foley has served as CEO of Grameenphone since May 2017. Before this he was the CEO of Telenor Pakistan and Telenor Bulgaria. “I am a true believer in Digital Bangladesh and our vision of empowering societies, connecting our customers to what matters most. It helps to unleash the true potential of our country,” said Yasir Azman. “I respect the trust of our 75 million customers, and we shall continue to bring innovation in our services and technology to serve them better,” he added. Source: BSS AH

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Thursday said Grameenphone has sent a legal notice to the Bangladesh President through a legal agency in Singapore seeking arbitration with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) over its unpaid. The minister made the disclosure at a views-exchange meeting of Telecom Reporters' Network Bangladesh (TRNB) at his office. “This is, I think, is very regretful that an institution doing business in Bangladesh has served a legal notice to our President to create pressure [on the govt] for arbitration…this is not easily acceptable,” he said. About government steps about the notice, the minister said, “The top level of the government has been informed about the notice.  They’ve talked to lawyers, too. There’s nothing to be worried as Grammenphone only wants arbitration. But there’s no scope for arbitration defying the court order,” he said. “We’ll go for arbitration if the court orders so. There’s no chance of getting justice disobeying the court of that country where a business institution runs business. We’re on the right track,” said the minister. Responding to a question whether Grameenphone will move international court, he said, “They’ve given such an impression that they’ll move the international court if there’s no arbitration. But it’s my observation that it won’t be possible to do anything in international court after a defeat in the country’s court.” On November 24, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court asked mobile phone operator Grameenphone to pay within three months Tk 2,000 crore of the Tk 12,579.95 crore dues as claimed by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The BTRC claims dues of Tk 12,579.95 crore in 27 sectors from GP. Having failed to recover the money, the BTRC on April 2 sent a notice to GP threatening to revoke its license. Later, GP moved a lower court seeking a temporary injunction on the BTRC’s notice which was turned down on August 28. Later, it filed an appeal with the High Court. Source: UNB AH

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan on Saturday said the contract Shakib Al Hasan has signed with telecom giant Grameenphone is completely illegal as it has violated the BCB’s contract with cricketers.  “Shakib’s contract with Grameenphone is completely illegal. It’s clearly stated in the contract paper of the cricketers that they can’t sing a deal with any telecom company of the country without the prior permission of the board. Shakib has violated this regulation. So we’ve decided to send him a legal notice seeking his explanation,” he said while talking to reporters at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in the evening.  “I just don’t understand why he has signed the deal despite having a conflict with the board’s regulation. We won’t spare anyone in this regard,” Nazmul added.  He also said the board will call some players from the ongoing third-round of National Cricket League to take part in the practice games against the national team on Sunday and Monday.  The BCB chief came to Sher-e-Bangla in the afternoon to meet newly-appointed spin-bowling consultant Daniel Vettori. He later had a visit to the Mirpur indoor practice facilities ground.  “I came to meet Vettori for the first time. It’s great that he joined our team. At the same time, I tried to know the plan of the coach ahead of the India tour, though it’s too early to ask him the plan because he is yet to finalize it. Apart from these, the national team will play two practice matches ahead of the India tour. So, we want to include more spinners in the practice camp so that the new spin-bowling consultant could interact with them and understand their ability before the Test series against India next month. We’ve also talked about this,” the board president further added.  Recently, Bangladesh cricket was shaken up by a players’ strike. The BCB later said they are taking the necessary steps to meet most of the demands. Shakib was at the forefront of that strike. Source: UNB AH

The Posts and Telecommunications Division on Thursday approved a proposal of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for appointing administrators for mobile operators Grameenphone (GP) and Robi. Posts, Telecommunications Division Minister Mustafa Jabbar told UNB over cell phone that BTRC had sent a proposal for appointing administrators or receivers which has been approved. The further details will be available at BTRC, he said. Earlier on September 18, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that the disputes of GP and Robi with BTRC over outstanding dues will be resolved within two or three weeks through discussions. GP has Tk 12,579.95 crore in dues to the government, including Tk 4,085.95 crore to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), while Robi has Tk 867.23 crore to the government, including Tk 197.21 crore to the NBR alone, as per a BTRC audit. GP and Robi filed two cases against BTRC with the Dhaka Civil Court on August 26 and August 25 respectively for its alleged faulty audit reports exaggerating the dues of the operators. On September 5, BTRC issued show-causes notices to GP and Robi seeking explanation as to why their 2G and 3G licenses should not be revoked for failure to pay dues. Earlier, BTRC stopped issuing fresh NOCs (no objection certificates) to GP and Robi over the row about dues to the government. However, it backtracked from the decision later. Source: UNB AH

Within months of introducing 4G, Grameenphone has become the first operator in the country to cross the 1 crore 4G internet users. Since the launch of 4G in February 2018, Grameenphone crossed the threshold of 50 lakh 4G customers in November 2018 and the latter 50 lakh joined within only five months. The introduction of 4G last year ushered in a new era of digitalization in the country with a promise to put high-speed internet in the hands of the people, said a press release. Reports UNB. Grameenphone was granted an operating license for 4G services after it acquired 5 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency band, making it the highest holder of the 1800 MHz frequency, the most suitable spectrum for 4G/LTE rollout. The intensity of the internet customer base growth is in direct correlation with the growing role of internet in everyday life. Denoting this milestone, Grameenphone’s DCEO and CMO, Yasir Azman, said, “Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing 4G market in Asia. This shows how fast the country is moving towards digitalization through mobile broadband and creating the opportunities to unleash potentials. Grameenphone is committed to invest & bring high speed Internet to citizens across all over Bangladesh. This milestone of 1crore 4G subscribers for Grameenphone inspires us to do it better & faster.” AH

About one thousand workers of Grameen Phone are at risk of losing their jobs. The company has taken initiative to implement a project named ‘CDC’ and for that reason Grameen Phone Employees Union (GPEU) thinks that the fear of losing jobs has been created in different sections including technology division. Informing their fear the workers at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity wanted government interference.  They said, fear of losing jobs of 6 hundred workers is created only in technology division of the company. GPEU president Fazlul Haque presided over the press conference while general secretary Mia Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman Masud read out the written statement. After delivering speech 12-point demand was placed on behalf of the organization. In the written speech Shafiqur Rahman Masud said that they were threatened by the company through email and also complain was filed against the names of general workers with labor directorate as the technology department workers protested the move. From 2007 total five thousand workers including three thousand permanent workers left Grameen Phone by phases. It was said at the press conference that in 2015 after making GP customer service department as outsource the jobs of temporary workers were not renewed. Nearly two hundred workers took the willing retirement package. Masud said, in 2018 a project enforced by Telenor named Project Bridge was taken to reduce workers from other divisions excluding technology and commercial divisions which will continue till 2019. In this process many were given willing retirement and more will be. GPEU president Fazlul Haque, publicity secretary Rafiqul Kabir Saikat and other leaders were present at the press conference. AH