VoIP Licenses for Bangladesh

Following a crackdown of illegal VoIP operations, the government will issue more licenses to legalize the service.

The Government of Bangladesh is all set to issue 3,000 more VoIP licenses for handling international calls. The rollout would begin by August. The government had earlier issued VoIP licenses to three private companies-Mir Telecom, Novotel and Bangla Trac Communications-permitting them to make international calls over Internet in February, 2008. It was generally understood that these companies would be exclusively handling all international calls through VoIP.

Despite licensed operators being present in the market, illegal VoIP activities have continued to thrive in the country. In March this year, BRTC investigated the total consumed bandwidth of the country's Internet service providers (ISPs) in an attempt to curb illegal call terminations or unlicensed VoIP activities. Post the investigation, the regulator shut down operations of nineteen ISPs as their usage of bandwidth didn't match their subscriber base. Along with ISPs, five private land phone operators were also shut down for alleged involvement in the illegal VoIP business. The crackdown on the PSTN operators began with a raid on Dhaka Phone on March 14, 2010. WorldTel, RanksTel, PeoplesTel and National Telecom were also shutdown in subsequent days.

Overall about half a million land phone users of the five companies were cut-off due to BRTC's actions. On March 23, 2010 the regulator conditionally allowed reconnection of call facilities for certified subscribers, but shut them down again the same day for non-compliance by the phone companies.

The BTRC attached conditions for reconnection of their customers. These included submitting a certified subscribers list, getting approval from the regulator for E1 connections-30 slot telephone connections used for call terminations-and alerting the regulator before making any kind of changes in their technical infrastructure.

Around 60 mn minutes of international calls are made to and from Bangladesh on a single day. Industry insiders say presently more than 20% of the total calls are still routed by the illegal VoIP operators. VoIP has become a lucrative business as the technology offers international calls at charges much lower than the legal costs.

Hence, the government's decision to add more licenses will be met with a very good response from the telecommunications industry in Bangladesh. As per an amended policy, illegal VoIP operators will get a chance to make their business legal by routing calls through legal exchanges. Earlier, international calls through VoIP were completely prohibited under the International Long Distance Telecommunications Service Policy.

A research survey by Aspect revealed that 17% of the firms have already deployed UC platforms, while 41% of the survey respondents expect to deploy the platforms within the next two years. Aspect added that 56% of the organizations responding to the UC Trends 2010 survey use six or more UC tools.

Source: Madhura Mukherjee - madhurak@cybermedia.co.in (voicendata.ciol.com)

BD Govt. opening up VoIP ! ! !

Bangladesh Government decides to provide 3,500 VoIP license from June, 2010. The Ministry already approved the recommendations in this regards.

The government has decided to issue more than 3,500 licences to the local entrepreneurs for handling international calls to and from Bangladesh through voice over internet protocol technology, which is still prohibited under the existing law.
“The licences will be issued to the new entrants within next three months after the Telecom Regulatory Act 2010 gets parliament's nod,” Telecom Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju said yesterday.
The minister's disclosure is expected to bring all illegal VoIP operators under a legal framework.
Industry insiders said at present more than 1,500 people are involved in illegal VoIP business.
The minister was speaking at a press meet with Telecom Reporters Network Bangladesh at the head office of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd. (BTCL) in the capital.
Sunil Kanti Bose, posts and telecommunications secretary, explained a bit more about this saying anyone can do the VoIP business under the legal framework at affordable costs.
“After taking the VoIP licence, the operation cost of a licensee would be maximum Tk 5 lakh,” said Bose.
Around 60 million minutes of international calls are made to and from Bangladesh a day. Industry insiders say presently more than 20 percent of the total calls are still routing by the illegal VoIP operators.
VoIP has become a lucrative business as the technology offers international calls at charges much lower than the legal calls. Hundreds of people have been engaged in this business.
The government has recently cancelled licences of five landline operators for their involvement in illegal international call termination through VoIP technology.
The operators are RanksTel, Dhaka Phone, National Telecom, Peoples Tel and WorldTel. Besides, licences of more than 20 internet service providers were cancelled for the same reason.

Some BTRC licensed IP Telephony Operators (IPTSP) are commercially launched their services in country. BDCOM's "Katha" and Fusion Net's "ApnarPhone" are the major IPTSP operators of Bangladesh who are currently officially launched and lots of subscribers are using their powerful IP-Phones. In absence of major active PSTN companies, currently only the Mobile Operators and IPTSP Operators are active in the market with their ready phone services from private sector. So, the proposed VoIP customers must use these operators' phone services for the VoIP purposes without any other alternates. Some experts believe that without proper guidelines and details specifications, introducing the PSTN operators is one of the major wrong decision of former government policymakers. Some PSTN operators using the same technologies and products which GSM / CDMA / IP-Telephony operators are using whereas the only public owned BTTB (now BTCL) is operating landphone or PSTN service through cable. Also the telecom experts comment that this AL government is much more keen and knowledgeable about the prospects of techncology as also the PM's Son is an IT professional. So, we can expect the excellent and long-term startegies & plans for the development and welfare of the IT & Telecommunication sector of Bangladesh.

Source: The Daily Star, Friday, May 21, 2010

Bangladesh 3G hopefuls will line up for beauty contest (swimsuits optional)

Bangladesh's slowly advancing broadband market is expected to flourish with affordable rates for the masses, as the telecom minister assured prospective licensees that the 3G spectrum will not be auctioned.
The minister's assurance however raised mixed responses among telecom industry insiders, as no one is sure about the criteria of the "beauty contest", which is expected to become a tool for awarding the 3G (third generation) licences. Traditionally, beauty contests incorporate personality, talent and answers to judges' questions as criteria for selection.
In response to journalists' queries, Telecom Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju recently said: "The 3G licence will not be auctioned as was happened with the WiMax licence, which was awarded at a hefty price of Tk 215 crore."
Bangladesh's internet penetration rate may reach 32 percent at household level and 66 percent at business level by 2020, according to a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), USA.
At present, the average internet penetration rate is only 4 percent, which is mainly driven by mobile operators' EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution) and GPRS (general packet radio service) solutions.
All the mobile operators are ready to upgrade their networks to 3G from the existing 2.5G or 2.75G as 3G is considered one of the most competitive tools to provide high-speed internet.
The telecom regulator has already reserved 40 MHz spectrums to allocate to four prospective operators.
"We welcome the telecom minister's comment on arranging a beauty contest to award the 3G licence, rather than monetary bidding," said Ahmed Abou Doma, chief executive officer of Banglalink.
He said this is exactly what happened in many advanced countries that have already launched 3G.
"They implied the beauty contest approach because it ensures fastest and widest 3G coverage along with the highest service levels and quality for the customers," Doma said.
However, the market's top player -- Grameenphone (GP) -- has doubts about the transparency of the 'beauty contest'.
“I don't have details on the exact model or form of the 'beauty contest' that the telecom ministry and the regulator have talked about. Therefore, it's difficult to accept or reject the idea. It may be noted that beauty contests are inherently a non-transparent process," said Oddvar Hesjedal, chief executive officer of Grameenphone Ltd.
Hesjedal, however, said it might be considered if the 'beauty criteria' are wide enough to include all mobile players in Bangladesh and all the terms and conditions of spectrum allocation are affordable to all the existing operators.
"GP will support any process, which is credible and transparent," he said.
He suggested the regulator proceed with public knowledge and go for an open consultation before launching the model.
"In any process, we must not forget the ultimate objective of providing affordable mobile broadband and modern services," said Hesjedal.
Among the six operators, five GSM (global system of mobile communication) operators are technically eligible for the 3G spectrum. Except for CDMA (code division multiple access) technology-based Citycell, Grameenphone, Banglalink, AKTEL and Warid will contest for the 3G spectrum.
However, state-run Teletalk may enjoy a privilege in getting the 3G spectrum without participating in the 'beauty contest'.
"Nothing has been decided yet," said Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the regulator. "We are working on finalising the guideline for 3G."
In Bangladesh, only 4.4 million people have access to the internet.
Forty-eight percent of urban Bangladesh is aware of internet services, while 29 percent of the rural population have heard about the service, said the BCG study.
Bangladesh will have around 20 million internet subscribers by 2020 if proper policy support is provided, and 90 percent of the users will be added through wireless connections, the study said.
Annual earnings from broadband internet penetration in Bangladesh is expected to reach Tk 128 billion by 2020 if the country ensures a rule-based policy regime, according to the US-based consulting group.

Source:

The Daily Star; Friday, February 19, 2010 ; Reported by: Md Hasan
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=126913

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