Rate cuts in int’l incoming call for IGWS
BTRC proposal to cause Tk 1,073cr govt losses
The telecom regulator on Sunday sent a proposal to the telecommunications ministry for lowering the incoming call charge and revenue sharing from international gateway operators which would cause a loss of Tk 1,073 crore in government revenues every year.
Officials of the post and telecommunications ministry said Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had proposed to lower the international call termination charge to 1.5 cents from the existing 3 cents.
They said the BTRC had also proposed to lower the government revenue sharing to 40 per cent from the existing 51.75 per cent.
The BTRC in its proposal admitted that the proposed plan would slash the government revenue to Tk 777 crore from Tk 1,851 crore – the government’s annual income from IGW and ICX operators last year.
‘The government will have a revenue shortfall of Tk 1,073 crore which we hope can be managed if the move reduces illegal call termination,’ said the BTRC proposal.
It said the country records around 55 million minutes of international incoming calls daily out of which 35 million minutes are disclosed to regulators.
The proposal also said the market turned dull because too many IGW licences had been issued and lowering the rates would make new IGWs sustainable.
Only four companies were given licences through an auction when IGW service was introduced in Bangladesh in 2008.
The present Awami League-led government awarded 25 more licences – mostly to people linked to the ruling party.
The regulator had proposed at best 10 more licences, but the government in last year awarded 25 IGW, 23 ICX and 34 IIG licences raising the number of gateway licences to 91.
The 25 new IGW licences could hardly increase the revenue, said BTRC officials.
They also said around Tk 900 crore in licence renewal fees from the IGW operators was due but could not be realised because of ‘political influence’.
The new IGW licensees have ‘political backing’ and care little about the relevant laws, the officials alleged.
They named some companies such as Roots Communications Ltd, First Communications Limited, Vision Tel Limited, Ratul Telecom Limited and Digicon Telecommunications Limited which they said had ‘strong links’ to the ruling party or its allies.
The BTRC officials said the companies were asked several times to explain violation of rules and their not sharing the revenues but nothing happened because of their ‘political connections’.
‘When our officers visit the companies concerned for inspection or other purposes, some company officials even behave badly with them…,’ said a senior BTRC official.
He also said that the new IGW licensees got involved in illegal voice over internet protocol business because of vulnerability of the business, depriving the government of revenues.
In a recent move, the BTRC directed the IGWs to establish a clearing house in a bid to curb illegal international call termination and unhealthy competition among the service providers.
The BTRC directive was prompted by a recent trend of decreasing international call volume and offering international call rates lower than the prescribed rates, it said.
The BTRC recently awarded 1,000 VoIP licences on ‘political consideration’ although commission officials said the market was able to handle only 300 to 400 new licences.
‘This will again harm the legal VoIP business a great deal and might force us to take such steps as lowering rates to make the business sustainable for the new VoIP licensees ,’ said the official.
Asked about the issue, telecom secretary
Md Abubaker Siddiqi said the ministry would conduct its own market research before approving the proposal.
‘I have not seen the proposal yet. The parliamentary standing committee on posts and telecom ministry recently asked BTRC to take initiatives for increasing the revenue from international calls,’ he told New Age.
‘We will approve the BTRC proposal if we find it will help increase the revenue,’ he added.
-With New Age input
