CityCell to invest $250m in next two years

"With this investment, we will bring the entire country under CityCell network coverage," Managing Director of the PBTL Faisal Morshed Khan told reporters at a briefing.

The PBTL has so far invested $120 million in network building, he said.

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PBTL officials said the funds will be raised from profits and a syndicated bank loan.

Currently, CityCell has some 215,000 subscribers and network coverage in 46 districts.

"We have a plan to expand the network to 50 districts by August this year, 54 districts by September and entire Bangladesh by the middle of 2004," Khan said.

He said there is huge potential for the growth of cell phone in the country, but high tariffs for mobile handset, microwave link, network lease and so on have been hindering its growth.

Khan said the microwave link charge in Bangladesh is 10 to 20 times higher than that in neighbouring Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.

"If we don't bring down the prices, people will not get the service at a cheap rate," he added.

Terming the cell phone industry highly capital intensive, he said the government should support the industry for its further growth.

He said although the government claims the telecommunications sector as an important part of infrastructure, it is yet to provide the support that the sector needs.

"Taxes on telecommunications equipment are high in Bangladesh compared to other neighbouring countries," he said.

He called upon other cell phone operators to share infrastructure facilities to ease pressure on the country's limited foreign currency reserves.

"We welcome new operators as they will create more competition in the market," he added.