India’s leading telco Bharti Airtel which failed to win telecom licences in Myanmar in June has something to cheer about as the company’s subsidiary Airtel Bangladesh  bagged 5 Mhz of third generation (3G) spectrum for $105 million in Bangladesh on Sunday

The bidding that lasted less than five minutes, Grameenphone bought 10MHz while Robi, Airtel and Banglalink bought 5MHz each.

In the bedding got tepid response as only four telcos participated in it. “There was no scope of an intense competition here as only four licences were given and there were four applicants” the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose.

"Airtel is pleased to have been awarded 3G license in Bangladesh along with 5 Mhz of spectrum. Being an experienced 3G operator in the South Asia region, we are committed to enrich our customers' voice and data experience in Bangladesh through unique life style products and 3G services," the company said in a statement.

With this Bangladesh is all set to enter the third generation (3G) era technology with users having access to high-speed Internet access and video telephony on handset.

The 3G guidelines prescribed by the Bangladesh regulator, the operators will have to pay 60 per cent of the total price of spectrum assignment as the first installment within 30 days that is before October 8 and the remaining in the next 180 days.