Five of the six operators of the National Telecommunications Transmission Network (NTTN) have not gone public, despite receiving authorization to float their shares on the stock exchange several years ago.

According to NTTN licensing rules, which are mainly for laying underground optical fibers, an operator must apply for an initial public offering (IPO) within five years of receiving the licence.

There are currently six NTTN licenses in Bangladesh, three from government agencies and three from private companies.

However, only Bangladesh Power Grid Corporation (PGCB) is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

None of the others licensed 10 to 15 years ago have gone public.

The companies are Fibre@Home Ltd, Summit Communications Ltd, Bahon Limited, Bangladesh Railway and Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Ltd (BTCL).

Fibre@Home received the license in January 2009, while Summit Communications, a subsidiary of energy industry heavyweight Summit Group, also received its license in December of the same year.

According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Bangladesh Railway obtained the PGCB and BTCL license in 2014.

Bahon Limited received its license in December 2019.

Moynul Haque Siddiqui, chairman of Fibre@Home Ltd, said his company had planned to go public long ago.

But he said the previous government’s decision to change the IPO valuation method discouraged companies with good fundamentals from going public.

“This is the reason behind this delay. Good companies do not want to come to the stock market with the current valuation method for their share prices.”

In a letter sent in May, BTRC asked Fibre@Home to take the necessary steps to offer shares to the public.

“We expect to do an IPO by December. We expect the policy regarding valuation to change by then,” Siddiqui said.

In its emailed response, Summit Communications outlined the reasons why it had initially planned to file for an IPO but was unable to do so.

“Due to local market difficulties and unforeseen global challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely affected both local and international financial markets, we have not been able to proceed as planned,” the statement said.

The largest infrastructure company in the telecom and internet sector in Bangladesh said it “worked diligently to obtain the required no-objection certificate from BTRC, but the timing was not conducive to advance the listing process at that time.”

Summit Communications said it is fully committed to pursuing an IPO as soon as market conditions stabilize and become more favorable.

But he did not offer any timeline.

“We continue to monitor the broader economic environment and aim to move forward once we are confident the market is positioned for stability going forward,” he said.

“Once these conditions align, we stand ready to proceed with the listing at the earliest opportunity, in line with our long-term vision to maximize sustainable growth and value creation,” the company said.

BTRC Chairman Md Emdad Ul Bari said the commission has asked licensees who are required to go public to do so.

“We also decided to ask them to explain the reasons behind their failure and their plans to go public,” said former major general Bari.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission spokesman Mohammad Rezaul Karim said the primary regulator should enforce the rules.

“If companies fail to comply, BTRC must enforce the rule. If there are any bottlenecks, we can work to resolve them,” he said.

Karim added that a working group is working to propose reforms to the capital market, which could include reviewing the way IPOs are valued.

“If the panel makes any suggestions regarding the valuation method of IPOs, the commission will consider it,” he said.

In a WhatsApp response, BTCL said the state-run company provides comprehensive telecom services under 10 licenses issued by BTRC.

“BCL maintains an account against the revenue generated from the services it provides under these licences,” he said.

“Therefore, there is no scope to separate NTTNs (revenue) from accounts. However, BTCL is committed to comply with BTRC’s guidelines,” he said but did not mention any time frame for going public.