Cairo – Mubasher: VEON Ltd and Global Telecom Holding announced that Banglalink, their wholly-owned subsidiary in Bangladesh, has been awarded the technology neutral spectrum in the 1800 and 2100 MHz bands in an auction conducted by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The Bangladeshi unit will pay $308.6 million for the technology neutral spectrum excluding the value-added tax (VAT), Global Telecom highlighted in a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Wednesday.

Banglalink will pay an upfront payment of 60% for the spectrum within 30 days and the remaining 40% will be paid over four years, the EGX-listed firm added.

“The company will pay $35 million to convert its existing spectrum holding in 900MHz and 1800MHz into technology neutral spectrum and $1.2 million to acquire the 4G/LTE license,” Global telecom continued.

The Egypt-based mobile telecommunication services provider said that the investment will be funded through locally available cash in Bangladesh, as well as the BDT-denominated facility signed by Banglalink in December 2017.

Banglalink will acquire 5.6 MHz paired spectrum in the 1800 MHz band and 5 MHz paired spectrum in the 2100 MHz band, according to the statement.

The technology neutral spectrum will allow Banglalink to double its 3G network capacity.

“Banglalink will also acquire a 4G/LTE license in parallel in order to launch a high-speed data network,” the statement added.

“Securing this spectrum boosts our spectrum holding by over 50% in Bangladesh and creates momentum for the turnaround of the Banglalink business,” CEO of VEON Jean-Yves Charlier commented.