Scraps plan to install devices
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is going to hire a firm for obtaining internet safety service as it has decided not to purchase and install the equipment and solution by itself, said officials concerned. The BTRC decision came after the commission in January had formed a committee to speed up the process of safety solution purchase and suspended the earlier EOI (expression of interest), said the officials.
They said the BTRC would publish the modified tender soon after finalising the minor details of the tender schedule.
‘It would cost less as the BTRC don’t have to spend huge amount of money at a time. On the other hand, we also don’t have to manage the system by ourselves which would have required additional expert manpower,’ a senior BTRC official told New Age on Tuesday.
He said the BTRC now decided to hire a firm under quarterly payments which would deliver the internet safety-related service to the telecom regulator according to the requirement.
‘Earlier the decision was to purchase the machinery by ourselves and install those in the office. But now we will hire a firm for the entire package,’ he said.
The BTRC on April 8 last year called for IT firms to set up a solution at the entry points of internet, especially the international internet gateways, to keep country’s web space safe.
The BTRC says the internet safety solution will keep free the internet from materials sensitive to the national unity and solidarity, derogatory contents to religious belief, obscene or indecent contents and morally inappropriate matters.
The telecom regulator’s move came after some anti-Islamic content in some blogs were brought into public attention by media in February 2013 which instigated violence across the country, they said.
Based on an expression of interest issued in April 2013 the BTRC shortlisted seven firms — Base Technologies, Perky Global, Ezzy Communication, Panacea System, Infra Builders, IT Consultant Ltd and Semptian International — for purchasing machinery.
After the system comes into operation the BTRC will be able to filter specific content of a web site without interrupting the users to carry their regular works, the officials said.
-With New Age input
