Courier service to come under regulatory system soon, minister tells JS body
The government will complete all the procedures for issuing new licences for voice over internet protocol business within next two months, said a minister on Sunday.
The post and telecommunication minister, Raji Uddin Ahmed, on Sunday told the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry that necessary preparations in this regards were almost completed and the process to issue licences would be initiated by February next year, sources in the committee said.
‘The minister replying to a query informed the committee that the process to issue new licences for the VoIP business could be started by February,’ committee member Moazzem Hossain Raton told New Age after a committee meeting.
He also said that earlier the committee had recommended that the ministry should issue licences for VoIP business and at Sunday’s meeting the committee members asked the minister about the progress.
The officials also informed the committee that the country’s courier services would be brought under a regulatory system and a guideline to this effect would be prepared within next two months, the meeting sources said.
‘The courier service companies are running business without any regulatory system for the last 26 years as courier service was not included in the structure of Postal Act,’ committee chairman Hasanul Haq Inu said after the meeting, adding that necessary rules in this regard were almost finalised and a regulatory system would be introduced by February next year.
Meeting sources said that the postal department had already prepared a guideline and if, the law is enacted, a three-member authority headed by a joint secretary would control the licensing system for the courier service.
Sources said that the draft of the new rule was formulated keeping the provision of realising Tk 50,000 to 2 lakh as fine on charge of violating the rule and all the companies in home and abroad would come under the regulatory system.
‘The postal department will submit the draft rules at the next meeting of the committee and after approval of the rules the courier services would be brought under the regulatory system,’ committee member Mohammad Abdul Kuddus told New Age.
The committee also recommended that the ministry should discuss with the mobile phone companies and the experts in the respective field before renewal of the 2G license.
It also recommended that a taskforce should be formed to introduce the Internet Protocol Version 6 by 2012 as the country is still in the age of IPV-4.
The committee chairman said that Laptops produced by the Telephone Shilpo Sangstha would be available in the market by March next year.
‘Although the technical preparations in this regard were complete, it is taking time to come to the market due to administrative complications,’ said Inu, adding that the price of the different categories of laptops would be Taka 10 thousand, 12 thousand and 15 thousand respectively.
The meeting appreciated the successful production of optical fiber by Cable Shilpo Sangstha in Khulna and said that the local production of the optical fiber cables could meet 60 percent demand of the country.
