The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) has decided not to go ahead with a Tk236 crore project under the state-owned telecom operator Teletalk in a bid to ensure the country's forex reserves remain stable.

The decision was taken at Ecnec meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through video conference from Ganobhaban on Tuesday (2 August).

Nearly 80% of the equipment required for the expansion project would have to be imported from abroad.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked why should the 5G project be implemented now when 4G hasn't been properly implemented in the country.

"The Prime Minister thinks Teletalk's 5G project is not needed right now. 4G service needs to be ensured first in all parts of Bangladesh. Not only Teletalk, but all mobile operators have been asked to increase the coverage of 4G," Planning Minister MA Mannan told the media after the meeting. 

"As the government is opting for austerity and Teletalk's 5G project is largely import dependent. So the project has been dropped to reduce the pressure on the use of dollars," he added. 

Teletalk had planned to launch its 5G service on a limited basis in the capital. For this, some areas of Dhaka North and South City Corporation had been selected. The project worth 236 crore taka was presented in the Ecnec meeting. Implementation was supposed to be completed in 2023.

The planning minister also said that there was no discussion on whether the scope of the foreign loan project would be reduced.

On Tuesday's meeting, seven projects were approved at a cost of Tk2,700 crore.