News Title : IGW Operators Forum plays positive role -Says outgoing BTRC chairman Sunil Kanti Bose

News Date : 2015-10-26

-STAFF REPORTER
The outgoing chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Sunil Kanti Bose, claimed on Wednesday that discipline has come to the international call market due to the formation of the IGW Operators’ Forum (IOF). “When all talk about the IGW Operators Forum, they highlight its current picture. When I assumed office in 2011, the legal call rate ranged from 2 to 2.5 million. Now it has been upgraded to 10 to 11 million. The forum cannot be termed a failure. Its benefits are visible,” he observed. “The organisations that got international gateway (IGW) licences were not able to do business. They have been brought to business through IOF. Whether they have got more or less licences—keep the argument aside. We see that they exist in the market. How will they run their business? The IOF is certainly a good initiative,” he said. “It’s not a permanent solution. There is scope for review. Simultaneously, the criticism is not acceptable. Our task is to encourage business through the legal way. We cannot keep the illegal path open,” he added. About the illegal VoIP, he said, “The illegal VoIP is now almost zero in Bangladesh. The IOF has made a contribution here.” He said, “A decision has been taken to issue 36 licences of IIG. But many companies did not take licences. We told them that we would cancel the licences allotted. They said, do it. Why are they saying it? Because there is no business case here. They have to give business case—otherwise, business competition will not be created.” He also advised the future head of the BTRC to think of reducing the price of the internet. “The price of bandwidth has been reduced. It is almost zero. Is it so? The price of which slab has been reduced? Who will make profits? Will customers use the 10 GB slab? These matters have to be discussed,” he said. Regarding the price of retail bandwidth, he said, “We have to estimate by how much the price of the retail bandwidth has been reduced. We have to provide wire connection as well. Otherwise, we cannot move ahead. But it will not get speed.” Replying to a query about the power struggle between the Directorate of Telecommunication and BRTC, he said, “I was in favour of the formation of the directorate. I still support it. Recently, I visited India, where I saw that their telecom directorate does advisory work. I think it will do the same here.” Sunil Kanti Bose was the former secretary of the post and telecommunications ministry. He retired on October 22 after discharging his duties as the BTRC chairman.

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