The government has given approval for a national telecom infrastructure licence for Army Transmission Company Ltd, clearing the way for it to build an optical fibre network and communication towers across the country.

"We have received pre-approval from the government to issue the licence. It is now under process," said Major General (retd) Md Emdad Ul Bari, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Officials say the army often needs reliable connectivity in hard-to-reach areas where private operators are unwilling to invest because of low commercial returns.

"If they [army] can establish a commercially sustainable company, it could serve both the public and the army's communication needs," said the BTRC chairman.

The approval came after the telecom regulator sought consent from the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology before issuing the licence. With this, the BTRC can move ahead with the remaining formalities.

Once issued, the company will receive a National Infrastructure and Connectivity Service Provider (NICSP) licence under the new telecom policy approved in September this year.

Earlier in June this year, the BTRC had endorsed a proposal to grant Army Transmission Company Ltd a Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) licence and sent it to the ministry for prior approval.

However, changes introduced under the new policy meant the licence category was revised, moving it from NTTN to the newly created NICSP category to match the updated rules.

"They applied for an NTTN licence, but by the time the policy changed. It became an NICSP category," the BTRC chairman told The Daily Star.

He previously said the army does not have a dedicated telecom network of its own and that building one solely for military use would be too costly under current budget constraints.

A commercially viable setup, he said, could meet both civilian and military communication demands.

A BTRC official said the final issuance of the NICSP licence may take time, as detailed guidelines under the new policy are yet to be approved.

Army Transmission Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Army Welfare Trust, first applied for an NTTN licence on May 9 this year by submitting the application in hard copy.

The proposal was later placed before the BTRC's highest decision-making body, which asked the company to resubmit it through the online License Information Management System. The digital application was filed on June 3.

In its submission, the company said it plans to connect all cantonments and military training institutions through a secure underground fibre optic network.

It also proposed building a backup fibre backbone to support civil administration during natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes.

The company also expressed readiness to provide secure and dedicated fibre connectivity to law enforcement agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Coast Guard.

Separately, the BTRC has also recommended issuing an NTTN licence, now classified as NICSP, to Bangla Phone and forwarded the proposal to the ministry for mandatory prior approval.

Other applicants for NTTN licences include Mango Teleservices Limited, Banglalink parent company VEON and the Bangladesh Computer Council.

Bangladesh currently has six NTTN operators. Together, they have laid around 148,000 kilometres of optical fibre nationwide, according to BTRC data.

These operators are responsible for building, maintaining and managing the country's fibre optic transmission backbone, which is shared with telecom operators and internet service providers.