News Title : BTRC wants ceiling for int’l call termination at 1.7 US cents

News Date : 2015-11-25

-Ahmed Shawki
The telecom regulator has proposed setting the ceiling for the international call termination rate at US 1.7 cents a minute and keeping the existing ceiling of US 1.5 cents as floor price as the test transmission period ended in September, said ministry officials. Officials of telecom ministry said the BTRC sent the proposal to the telecom ministry for approval with a recommendation that the revenue should be shared with the government on the basis of floor price. They also said that the BTRC proposed forming a high-powered committee comprising representatives from the finance ministry, telecom ministry, telecom regulator and other stakeholders to formulate a cost modelling for the international call termination rate. Asked about the issue, posts and telecommunication secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury on Tuesday told New Age that the ministry was yet to decide on the matter. ‘We have not decided anything on this issue. We need to look into it further,’ he said. The government reduced the international incoming call termination rate to 1.5 cents from 3 cents in September 2014 on a test basis to patronise politically-licensed IGW operators, sources said. With several extensions, the test period ended in September but the government is yet to issue any order regarding the transmission rate after the test run. The IGW Operators Forum, a cartel of IGW operators, raised the termination rate to 2 cents from late August without government consent but is sharing revenue with the government at 1.5 cents. When contacted on Monday evening, telecom secretary Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury told New Age that he was yet to get the BTRC proposal. According to the BTRC data, when the call rate was at 3 cents, the daily average call volume was around 50 crore minutes and the government’s revenue earning was Tk 7.17 crore and the operators’ share was Tk 5.15 crore. During the test rate of 1.5 cents, the call volume increased to 11 crore minutes a day but government revenue declined to Tk 6.12 crore whereas the operators’ share increased to Tk 6.57 crore. The daily average call minute again dropped to 9.3 crore minutes and the government’s share reduced further to Tk 6 crore after the IOF increased the rate to 2 cents but operators’ share increased to a whooping Tk 9 crore daily. The government in September last year allowed seven IGW operators to from a cartel in a bid to facilitate politically-backed IGWs. Under the new system, the seven IGWs operators can terminate international calls while the other 23 IGWs can only bring calls although all operators hold same licence.

Source