Int'l call market gets legal status
At last, international gateway to the Internet telephony is set to be
legally opened for the users in Bangladesh after much foot dragging.
With the auctioning of international call service licences to three
private operators, the decade-old monopoly of the state-run BTTB is
gone.
A report published in the FE this week said three local companies --
Novotel, Bangla Trac and Mir Telecom -- won the licences offering
51.75 per cent of their call tariffs to the Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) after a marathon
auction. Indeed, this is a welcome move and it is for the first time
in the country's history that telecom licences were auctioned off in
front of an open house. According to the BTRC chairman, it was done to
ensure complete transparency.
Protected by the government's telecom laws, the Bangladesh Telegraph
and Telephone Board (BTTB) was the sole carrier and router of
international phone calls since the country's independence in 1971.
But lack of government policing led the private mobile and fixed-phone
operators to grab illegally a large share of the market, by using
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology since 2001. It is thus
expected that the entry of the three new private operators would
ensure a sizeable tariff for the government. The three companies will
pay Tk 150 million each as licencing fees.
The country's international call market is worth Tk 30.00 billion and
it is growing rapidly because of a large number of Bangladeshi
migrants working abroad. The market generates calls to the tune of
about 25 million minutes a day, with 80 per cent traffic home bound.
But surprisingly, more than 50 per cent of the market is being
illegally grabbed by VoIP operators. Over 5.0 million Bangladeshis now
work and live abroad. Another one million are scheduled to leave the
country this year.
For long, the BTRC was trying to give an 'indigenous' look to the long
distance telecom sector. But the unauthorised telecom operators made
bumper businesses with voice over internet telephony in the absence of
an effective telecom regulatory policy. Hundreds of illegal operators
brought small aperture terminals from abroad clandestinely and
launched VoIP exchanges mostly in the capital city and Chittagong.
Illegal VoIP business operated with the active cooperation from a
section of officials of the BTTB and the telecom ministry. After the
caretaker government took over, crackdown began on this illegal
business. VoIP equipment and exchange worth billions of taka were
seized by the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Most of the
illegal businesses were closed down. But the sufferings of the
international callers mounted with the termination of illegal
exchanges.
What will be the fate of V-SATs being used by some private and mobile
operators when the government is going to discourages their use? To
this question, the BTRC explains that the authorities will assess the
justification of using V-SATs on a case-to-case basis and decide
accordingly. In some respect, its use appears to be permanently
banned. What will happen when there is a major disruption in
international telecom service following shutdown of BTTB's submarine
cable? This is a pertinent question as there will be no back-up of
private V-SATs to come to the rescue.
Indeed, Bangladesh is linked to only one submarine cable while most of
the countries have two or more optic fibre cable connections. When the
first offer of joining the optic fibre cable came about one decade and
a half ago, it was rejected by the then government on silly 'security
ground'. What a 'wise' decision that was! The government had failed to
understand what was submarine cable and what was its utility. When it
was able to understand, much time had already elapsed. However,
Bangladesh joined a consortium of submarine cable lines much later. In
case of any major disaster, the country will have to wait until its
repair, use backup link via satellite or wait for linkup to another
undersea telecom cable.
The BTTB gets both IGW and ICX licences by default being the incumbent
international service provider. Experts are questioning the efficiency
of the state-owned operator in using these licences. The BTTB is
bedevilled with widespread irregularities. Such a big state-owned
operator cannot handle the lone affairs of land phone business
properly. Land phone charge in Bangladesh is still one of the highest
in South Asia. Trouble with ghost billing and phone shifting still
haunts the customers. With availability of a little cheap mobile and
private land phone connections, many subscribers are shying away from
the BTTB and those connections. When this has been the state of
affairs inside the BTTB, how could it be an effective body in handling
overseas calls?
It is heartening to note that within a short time, long distance
telecom policy has been prepared and approved, much to the relief of
the users and the stakeholders. Nevertheless, a policy may be good,
but its effective implementation depends on seriousness and honesty of
the people and agencies concerned. The BTTB is already a
problem-ridden state entity. Private operators' dependence on calls
routing to overseas destinations via BTTB's submarine cable might end
in disaster. Besides, there is a need to strictly regulate
international call tariffs, so that these do not become expensive.
Users must get some relief from existing high call charges.
Privatisation of the international long distance call service would,
as expected, lead to a price war among the legal carriers, drying up
the source of revenues for the illegal VoIP operators. Illegal VoIP
operators thrived because of the protection enjoyed by BTTB. But as
soon as the private companies start operation, it will be well-nigh
impossible for the illegal operators to stay afloat.
At last, international gateway to the Internet telephony is set to be
legally opened for the users in Bangladesh after much foot dragging.
With the auctioning of international call service licences to three
private operators, the decade-old monopoly of the state-run BTTB is
gone.
A report published in the FE this week said three local companies --
Novotel, Bangla Trac and Mir Telecom -- won the licences offering
51.75 per cent of their call tariffs to the Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) after a marathon
auction. Indeed, this is a welcome move and it is for the first time
in the country's history that telecom licences were auctioned off in
front of an open house. According to the BTRC chairman, it was done to
ensure complete transparency.
Protected by the government's telecom laws, the Bangladesh Telegraph
and Telephone Board (BTTB) was the sole carrier and router of
international phone calls since the country's independence in 1971.
But lack of government policing led the private mobile and fixed-phone
operators to grab illegally a large share of the market, by using
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology since 2001. It is thus
expected that the entry of the three new private operators would
ensure a sizeable tariff for the government. The three companies will
pay Tk 150 million each as licencing fees.
The country's international call market is worth Tk 30.00 billion and
it is growing rapidly because of a large number of Bangladeshi
migrants working abroad. The market generates calls to the tune of
about 25 million minutes a day, with 80 per cent traffic home bound.
But surprisingly, more than 50 per cent of the market is being
illegally grabbed by VoIP operators. Over 5.0 million Bangladeshis now
work and live abroad. Another one million are scheduled to leave the
country this year.
For long, the BTRC was trying to give an 'indigenous' look to the long
distance telecom sector. But the unauthorised telecom operators made
bumper businesses with voice over internet telephony in the absence of
an effective telecom regulatory policy. Hundreds of illegal operators
brought small aperture terminals from abroad clandestinely and
launched VoIP exchanges mostly in the capital city and Chittagong.
Illegal VoIP business operated with the active cooperation from a
section of officials of the BTTB and the telecom ministry. After the
caretaker government took over, crackdown began on this illegal
business. VoIP equipment and exchange worth billions of taka were
seized by the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Most of the
illegal businesses were closed down. But the sufferings of the
international callers mounted with the termination of illegal
exchanges.
What will be the fate of V-SATs being used by some private and mobile
operators when the government is going to discourages their use? To
this question, the BTRC explains that the authorities will assess the
justification of using V-SATs on a case-to-case basis and decide
accordingly. In some respect, its use appears to be permanently
banned. What will happen when there is a major disruption in
international telecom service following shutdown of BTTB's submarine
cable? This is a pertinent question as there will be no back-up of
private V-SATs to come to the rescue.
Indeed, Bangladesh is linked to only one submarine cable while most of
the countries have two or more optic fibre cable connections. When the
first offer of joining the optic fibre cable came about one decade and
a half ago, it was rejected by the then government on silly 'security
ground'. What a 'wise' decision that was! The government had failed to
understand what was submarine cable and what was its utility. When it
was able to understand, much time had already elapsed. However,
Bangladesh joined a consortium of submarine cable lines much later. In
case of any major disaster, the country will have to wait until its
repair, use backup link via satellite or wait for linkup to another
undersea telecom cable.
The BTTB gets both IGW and ICX licences by default being the incumbent
international service provider. Experts are questioning the efficiency
of the state-owned operator in using these licences. The BTTB is
bedevilled with widespread irregularities. Such a big state-owned
operator cannot handle the lone affairs of land phone business
properly. Land phone charge in Bangladesh is still one of the highest
in South Asia. Trouble with ghost billing and phone shifting still
haunts the customers. With availability of a little cheap mobile and
private land phone connections, many subscribers are shying away from
the BTTB and those connections. When this has been the state of
affairs inside the BTTB, how could it be an effective body in handling
overseas calls?
It is heartening to note that within a short time, long distance
telecom policy has been prepared and approved, much to the relief of
the users and the stakeholders. Nevertheless, a policy may be good,
but its effective implementation depends on seriousness and honesty of
the people and agencies concerned. The BTTB is already a
problem-ridden state entity. Private operators' dependence on calls
routing to overseas destinations via BTTB's submarine cable might end
in disaster. Besides, there is a need to strictly regulate
international call tariffs, so that these do not become expensive.
Users must get some relief from existing high call charges.
Privatisation of the international long distance call service would,
as expected, lead to a price war among the legal carriers, drying up
the source of revenues for the illegal VoIP operators. Illegal VoIP
operators thrived because of the protection enjoyed by BTTB. But as
soon as the private companies start operation, it will be well-nigh
impossible for the illegal operators to stay afloat.
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