Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Wednesday asked four mobile phone operators to pay a total of Tk 8.5748 billion for licence renewal, spectrum assignment charges and outstanding due since 2010.

"We issued letters to four operators asking them to pay their outstanding fee for quick renewal of their 'Second Generation' (2G) licences," BTRC chairman Major General (retd) Zia Ahmed told BSS.

The operators were given 10 days for the payment. In default, they should pay additional amount as fine.

A BTRC official said another letter would be issued today (Thursday) to Airtel and Teletalk asking them to pay their due since 2010.

Among the four operators, Grameenphone (GP) will have to pay Tk 3.9621 billion, Robi Tk 1.9949 billion, Banglalink Tk 2.1754 billion and Citycell Tk 440 million.

Zia Ahmed said the commission will decide on licence renewal after the payment.

The BTRC has taken the decision following the High Court's verdict on the issue, which allowed the telecom regulator receive full spectrum assignment fee for renewal of the 2G licences.