Bangladesh prioritises wider 4G coverage over faster 5G speed
Early in 2020, the telecom regulator announced plans to auction 5G-suitable spectrum before the end of that year. Partly due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 crisis, but more reflecting a lack of interest from the mobile network operators, those plans were shelved in preference for releasing more spectrum to ease pressure on the existing LTE networks. That pressure has been exacerbated during the pandemic, which has seen a surge in mobile data usage.
In March 2021, the regulator auctioned spectrum in the 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands to three of the country’s four MNOs: Grameenphone, Robi, and Banglalink. State-run Teletalk, under its own liquidity-related pressures, withdrew from the process.
Despite Bangaldesh being on the United Nations’ Least Developed Countries list, the MNOs paid some of the highest prices in the world for the spectrum (on a per-Megahertz per population basis). That largely reflects the significant level of untapped demand that exists for mobile coverage and service, especially in rural areas where the vast majority of the population resides, but where only 20% of the country is LTE-enabled.
