Govt Finalizes Major Telecom Licensing Reform to Expand Broadband Nationwide

The government has moved forward with a major overhaul of Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector to ensure high-speed broadband and quality telecom services reach citizens across the country.

As part of the initiative, revised drafts of the “Telecommunications Network and Licensing Reform Policy 2025” and its associated licensing guidelines have been prepared following five special meetings chaired by Prime Minister’s ICT and Telecommunications Adviser Rehan Asif Asad at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

On Sunday, May 24, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sent the revised draft to the Posts and Telecommunications Division for prior government approval.

Major restructuring of telecom licenses

The reform introduces significant changes to four major licensing categories: CMSP, ISP, TCSP, and ICSP.

Under the new structure, the previous FTSP (Fixed Telecom Service Provider) license will be renamed into two separate categories:

• Internet Peering or Internet Service Provider (Nationwide)
• Internet Service Provider (District)

The revised draft also allows district-level ISP operators to appoint resellers under larger nationwide operators.

New rollout obligations have been introduced for district ISPs. Operators will be required to gradually expand network coverage to at least 4, 8, 16, 24, and 36 districts from the first through fifth years respectively.

In addition, operators must establish Points of Presence (PoP) covering at least 70 percent geographic areas along with 20 percent household coverage requirements.

New categories, higher fees, longer validity

The former NICSP license will now be renamed as TCSP (Tower and Connectivity Service Provider).

Meanwhile, ICSP licenses will be divided into two categories:

• Facility-based
• Non-facility-based

The non-facility-based ICSP category will have comparatively lower fees and charges. However, such operators must purchase a minimum amount of bandwidth from domestic submarine cable operators as determined by the commission.

The validity period for TCSP and CMSP licenses has been extended from 15 years to 20 years.

For TCSP licenses:

• Acquisition and renewal fees will increase from Tk 100 million to Tk 140 million
• Annual license fees will rise from Tk 30 million to Tk 40 million

Foreign ownership limits revised

To ensure sustainable sector development and strategic protection, BTRC has proposed new foreign ownership limits.

Under the revised policy, foreign investors may hold up to 80 percent ownership in ISP, TCSP, CMSP, and facility-based ICSP licenses.

However, the commission recommended majority domestic ownership for ICSP licenses considering national strategic interests. On the other hand, BTRC considers majority foreign ownership acceptable in TCSP licenses to support infrastructure development.

Stricter rules against ownership concentration

The draft policy also introduces tighter restrictions to prevent monopoly influence and ownership concentration in the telecom sector.

Under Section 36 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001 (Amendment 2026), a single individual or family member will not be allowed to hold multiple active telecom licenses directly or indirectly.

This means individuals or families already benefiting from one telecom license will not qualify for additional ICSP licenses.

Industry reaction

Telecom analysts and industry stakeholders believe the new framework could modernize Bangladesh’s digital infrastructure and create a more integrated internet ecosystem.

However, concerns have also emerged that smaller and medium-sized ISPs may become increasingly dependent on large nationwide operators under the proposed structure. Experts therefore stressed the importance of consulting all field-level stakeholders before granting final approval.

DBTech/AIH/EK/OR