The social obligation fund from the telecom operators reached Tk 1,206.84 crore as of June this year, but the government is yet to decide how to make best use of the money.

Of the amount, Tk 1,019.99 crore came from six mobile operators in the last six years and Tk 186.86 crore is added to the fund as bank interest.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) introduced the fund in November 2011 when four mobile operators renewed their licences.

As there is no demand from the government, BTRC has once again opted for depositing the whole amount to a suitable bank and earn interests, said a commissioner of the regulator.

“We have no other way. It's the government that decides on how and where to utilise the fund. We are not entitled to spend this money,” said Md Jahurul Haque, legal commissioner of BTRC.

The government should set a collection target for the fund, as it cannot continue forever, industry insiders said.

“Otherwise it will create some source of corruption for many.”

Market leader Grameenphone gave Tk 516.94 crore to the obligation fund, which is more than half of all operators' total contribution.

Citycell, which has recently been shut down, handed over Tk 6.96 crore to the fund as of December 2016.

However, the state-run Teletalk has so far contributed only once, which was Tk 2.7 crore for the July to December period of last year.

The operators have been contributing 1 percent of their gross revenue to the fund on a quarterly basis.

The fund was supposed to be collected after the formation of the rule, but the BTRC started collection in 2011 while the rule was finalised in 2015. The early collection by the BTRC was illegal, experts said.

Moreover, the telecom regulator has been collecting the fund only from the mobile operators. The government included other operators like international gateway operators and other service providers in the list in 2015. But the other operators are still exempted from the fund.

The ICT division has recently sought financial support from the fund to provide 772 unions with internet connectivity through optical fibre cables by the end of 2018.

But the proposal did not get positive response as the telecom division opposed to the call, said a top official preferring anonymity who is involved in managing the fund.

Mobile operators said they have so far covered 99 percent geographical areas with mobile network, but for better data service, especially 4G, fibre optic cable connectivity is a must.

Earlier, the state-run National Telecom Monitoring Cell, administered by an intelligence agency, had also sought an allocation from the fund to maintain discipline in the sector.

The government formed a high-profile committee headed by the telecom minister for the utilisation of the fund. For quick results, the state minister for telecom has recently been added to the panel.