Bangladesh to issue 3G licences by March-regulator

DHAKA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's telecoms watchdog plans to issue 3G licences by March 2009, to expand broadband services within the country, the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory commission said on Monday.

Licensing the 2100 MHz spectrum band for 3G services would enable Bangladeshi operators to launch mobile broadband services, which their customers can use to gain fast and easy access to the Internet and online services.

"The 3G licences will be issued by March next year ... the licences would be awarded through an open auction," said Manzurul Alam.

The broadband services would enable people to get easy access to information on health, education, job opportunities and agriculture, he told reporters.

Last month, GSMA, the global trade body representing the mobile industry, also called on Bangladesh to issue 3G licences soon to make broadband services more widely available.

Bangladesh's mobile sector has grown rapidly, with user numbers reaching almost 43.5 million at end-October from 200,000 in 2001, while the country has only 1.32 million fixed-line phones.

Analysts predict the number of subscribers could top 70 million by 2011, nearly half the country's population of more than 140 million people.

There are six cellphone carriers in Bangladesh, including five foreign operators.

Grameenphone, controlled by Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL) leads the market with 20.79 million subscribers followed by Egyptian Orascom Telecom's (ORTE.CA) Banglalink, then AKTEL, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International (TLMM.KL).

Although nearly half of the country's population is still below the poverty line, the country has been one of the world's fastest growing cellular markets. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; editing by Simon Jessop)