I sent the following letter to the daily star day before yesterday. We all need to raise our voice about this issue. I urge to all who are affected, please mail a letter to the newspapers in Bangladesh and voice your opinion about unplanned shortsighted actions against VoIP operators in Bangladesh. .
WE ARE DISCONNECTED
While I and all my siblings are living outside Bangladesh, my elderly parents live in Bangladesh. Daily phone calls from me and my siblings used to keep them going with their lonely life.
There are hundreds of thousands of non resident Bangladeshi and as a consequence, in a situation similar to us, there are thousands of lonely elderly parents who are emotionally dependent on overseas calls from their children.
Not only the emotional factor, in this globalized world, many family matters, business issues and social issues also depend heavily on instructions via overseas calls.
Over the last week I failed to call my parents. Neither of my siblings could make any call. I am hearing the same story from the Bangladeshi communities across the globe. Among them, someone has sick parents; someone’s wife was expecting a baby. There is a sudden feeling of helpless disconnection and distance. For a very pressing matter, I had to email a cousine of mine who in turn called my parents to give the message.
This sudden loss in connectivity with Bangladesh is being blamed by the non resident Bangladeshi community as the result of current law enforcement offensive on illegal VoIP business.
While we understand, VoIP was illegal, but it was serving millions of Bangladesh. Why suddenly demolish a service industry without ensuring a backup plan for unhindered flow of the service? Rather than totally
destroying the industry could not the government take steps in bringing the VoIP service under tax blanket?
We all understand that BTTB is losing revenue. We do not want that. But we also can raise the question that how much the nation will benefit with a revenue fat BTTB? What BTTB has given us since independence? It takes a nearly lifetime to get a land line connection. It is absolutely impossible to get a service from BTTB without bribes or phone calls from powerful people. Bribery by BTTB linemen has taken the form of extortions.
With VoIP the young entrepreneurs were giving an extensive overseas telecommunication service that was very cheap too. Definitely making a way to tax these services would have helped the national exchequer as well as the NRBs. But what is the logic of discarding an easy, cheap new technology of VoIP for an expensive and cumbersome technology currently used by BTTB. I am yet to understand the logic, why a VoIP operator will have to pay fees to BTTB if they do not use BTTB service at all i.e. if the call terminates in a private operator run mobile phone?
And at the same time NRBs will be happy to see some action on those who are involved in larger scale crimes, criminalization of the society, politics and the administration; not only on the young technologically savvy small scale entrepreneurs.
January 29, 2007 at 5:49 pm
This is what Rubel Ahsan of Salam Dhaka had to say.
http://salamdhaka.blogspot.com/2007/01/disconnected-nrb.html
January 29, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Another comment on this issue by a fellow blogger Tanoy
*********************************************
Now a days I have found a Funny topic in every news paper about VOIP in Prothom -alo.
So many so called non patriot young guys have been arrested by RAB. and In every TV channel they have made the news of it. But when same Prothom -Alo is giving advertisement of Calling Cards for some Australian Company are they not violating the Law of the country? I my self is in Telecom Industry with a Reputed mother Telecom operator in singapore
. what is the problem now to open the VOIP completely in Bangladesh? is there any Obstacle? Our so Called Brilliant BTTB is going to loose revenue?It seems from very next day Rab will go to everyone’s home to arrest to send Emails. Because Post office revenue is reduced in last some years after introduction of Internet.
My question to So called Intellect How professional BTTB is ? I remember while I was in Bangladesh even for one residential line you need to pay brive to half educated line man after paying Demand note. Did care Taker Gov’t took any step to clean up the BTTB system?
Basically what I felt Bangladesh has huge possibility in the Telecom sector and even bigger than garments and Textile. Every day Mother Telco like Sing Tel, MCI, Sprint, Vsnl have billion of voice minutes for Bangladesh. besides there is The retailers like Calling card operator . Basically I am Totally agreed with the Rumi Bhai that our NRB has sent lots of remittance to the country. They also have right to communicate their relatives and all in the country in Cheapest cost. If they need $1 per minute to make a call what’s the benefit they are getting. May be little but don’t you think It is affecting even little bit in remittance. Did Govt think what can be the side effect of those things? Did they ever insist BTTB to reduce their incoming cost for Other Foreign operator?
Only for the political reasons and so called revenue they even did not think about the substitute arrangement. But behind this VOIP the biggest so called political players are still in safe side.
I don’t know what type of people are seating in the Chair of the institution. In every where every country there is gray operators. and There is a market. why didn’t they take the policy to compete with Gray? Like in India Reliance is a revolution . But BSNL is not died. Just see the NWD and IDD call of India right of the moment. Here Govt sector is competing with the private sector. But I believe our This sector can’t do any thing.
This is the right time to liberalize the VOIP with the reasonable cost. and Right person should be in right place. But That does not mean you should bring University teachers who did not have any real time Experience. Just invite real professional who have vast experience in this sector. and The people who have been arrested should be utilized for the development of this sector even as a technician. VOIP is a Technology it is not Drag or some thing. My request to all news papers and every one Please don’t try to use it in negative form .It is the golden mine for the Bangladesh . so before blaming any one for any thing Just make sure you must have proper knowledge.
January 29, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Basically I should say this is the right time to Open the VOIP. It is matter of Shame that
Our Mother Telco Operator BTTB is establishing their monopoly by dint of Force.
I remember once a Tv program where BTRC EX Chairman( Bangladesh Tele Communication Regulatory commission) Margub Murshad said about 3 years Back that even BTTB did not take the license from the BTRC. I am also surprised some News papers are claiming to setup internet Exchanges in the four divisions and Bangladesh. It is even bit funny to me.
Singapore and HongKong are becoming the hub.
They have the internet exchange but they do have equally also the type of Licenses. To estimate Traffic Volume is not a big deal at all. If Govt does have authority to access of the CDR ( call Duration Record) of Every
Operator, Things are much easier. Now I like to raise another point.BTTB is becoming the solo operator of all whole sale Voice. It is not only for the VOIP and But also for TDM (Time Devison Multi Pluxing) too. My question to Govt. is it Child’s play? Our Mobile operators Played very important roll to contribute in our economy. More over They are the revolution in the sector. If we see any Foreign Investor came to the Bangladesh It is only for These Telecom sector.
Telenor, Sing Tel, Orascom, Telecom Malsysia
are the Major share holders of Grameen Phone, CITI Cell, Bangla link and AKTEL.
I am proud to say after a long time This is the one sector where You have so easy access of companies like MCI or Sprint. All those Gray operators have made the dimension.
Most Important right now to break the monopoly of the BTTB. Now Every international call is going Via BTTB gateway and My suggestion is that Every mobile Operator of Bangladesh has to get License to Terminate the wholesale traffic via their gateway. It may be Via VOIP or IPLC even Via satellite. and all those gray operator should be taken under the control of those mobile operator. If possible BTTB will also buy the routes from them. we have to think on this way . At least those guys are not wasting their time behind Drags and unsocial activities. This is the age if Tele communication. Because of these Mobile operators we have got the New generation of young Force who are getting quite high salary to get the Job. Did BTTB can make revolution after liberation? Basically I believe You should not stop technology.This Voip Can open lots of door and windows for the country. In last some years BPO is becoming one of the biggest source of India. Maximum Call centers of India are switching their system to VOIP instead of IPLC.
I Just appeal to the every news papers, Civil society, Enterprising organistions
and Political parties
” Please don’t loose this golden opportunity. Use our young force for the development. and we have to bring young Blood to BTTB and BTRC. Technology is the beauty of invention . In IT and Telecommunication six months are even an era. Our BTTB officials are as old as their equipments. I want to see BTTB should be popular as Grameen or Bangla link. Rab is the not solution for Technology. we must bring proper management in the chair.
SINGTEL, STARHUB,AT&T,Bell, BT , VSNL, PCCW are becoming the pride of their country. But Sing Tel or Bell don’t go after for the calling card operator of their country. AS BTRC Singapore also does have IDA( info com Development authority of Singapore) and They are taking care of all regulatory issue.
So I will request every one to raise the Voice .
January 29, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I’m with you all on this.
I don’t see the point in closing down cheap way of communicatoions without providing an alternative. If the govt. feels that they should make money on this, that’s okay….make it legal, fix a fee, but keep the lines open.
January 29, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Perfect example of shortsightedness of our government and it seems not to matter who is in charge.
I am aware of the illegal voip raids this month and for some reason my hours of trying to call my family wasn’t going through – I just didn’t put the two together to figure out the reason. I even bought a second phone card thinking that something was wrong with the first one. Yes I am one of the victims of this quandary!
January 30, 2007 at 2:39 am
Please send copies of your comments on this blog to DAILY STAR letters page. If many letters come quickly, there is chance to fix the issue.
editor@thedailystar.net
January 30, 2007 at 2:52 am
When it comes on our own, we all are united, no matter who is ‘progotishil’ or ‘protikriashil’, 🙂
Yes, I have sent a letter of the DS. Hopefully they’ll publish it and take the matter seriously.
January 30, 2007 at 4:03 am
Please among any of you take some initiative to send all reactions to DS. We Must be cautious to point out the wrong side of such activities.
January 30, 2007 at 4:24 am
Tanoy, based on my experience if you wait for others to do it, it will never happen. I suggest you take the initiative. Just collate all the comments together or ask people to cc you on every single letter that gets sent to DS. You can then send the completed information and list of all the letters that got sent.
January 30, 2007 at 4:31 am
well I have already sent my letters to editor of DS. any one wants send Cc to me at tanoy@technodimension.biz
January 30, 2007 at 5:07 am
looks like admins are selectively purging any comments against interim govt. How could you demand fredom of speech if you dont respect it?
[personal libels and propaganda comments are not allowed. Accusing the government and civil society and Dr. Kamal Hossain of being puppet of foreign corporations and government and of looking after the interest of foreign corporations are libels. Please check the moderation rules again – admin]
January 30, 2007 at 5:30 am
DS would never print anything that went outside it world view, which has temporarily narrowed.
As far as the digital divide goes, i think for any of us to get on this forum, we have to be quite connected we even have the privaledge of long distance relationships.
This government has probably thought of ways in which internal bickering and transnational winging(communications) can be disrupted. Wasnt VOIP illegal anyway? and the only reason it was going on was because the govt business interests were there. have i got the total wrong end of the stick.
BTTB just makes me so mad, we are such theiving gits, do we even know of the human potential that we are suffocating with our foolishness. Its not just bttb, its anything that involves public engineering.
Skype, MSN, expensive mobile calls.
January 30, 2007 at 6:20 am
As far I realized, there are some cause why this illegal VOIP has been shut down. One of the reason is to shut down black money, second is BTTB and the govt. losing crors of money EVERY DAY due to this illegal business. BTTB was about to open license a year ago to vendors, but certain syndicate related to politicians tried to monopoly the business by using inexperienced ( dummy ) company. which lead to a hang up situation of this license controversy. Those who read the news those days, may know in detail already. Needless to say who got benefited from this ‘hang up’ situation for years.
Now, all the time we demand cleansing corruption, black money, godfathers, reform and what not. We even showed ‘sympathy’ to those house less people of Dhaka city, and ‘cried’ loud HR violation, but looks like all of a sudden we failed to bear the pain, not being able to call family INSTANTLY. While those house less people are paying helplessly and unconditionally, we are NOT willing to pay when it’s seems to be our turn, sounds grate.
Rather I fully support current CTG, shutting down this illegal source of black money FIRST, then install license system as soon as possible. Cant we just wait few days or month and see what comes out?
January 30, 2007 at 9:34 am
From my abba:
BTTB offers cheap ISD calls @7.50 taka/min which is cheaper than normal @40 taka/min. It is basically VOIP which was supposed to be sarted long before but not carried because interested party wanted to have their VOIP system. Now they are being captured by RAB
January 30, 2007 at 9:43 am
Should we promote illegal profiteering simply because our personal interest is hurt?
Inaction Against Illegal VoIP Trade
BTTB loses Tk 267cr revenue in 5 years
Sharier Khan
Due to deliberate inaction of the immediate past alliance government in the matter of stopping illegal VoIP business, the overall annual earning of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) sharply dropped by Tk 267 crore during its five-year tenure, official data shows.
While phone companies around the world are enjoying a steep business rise, the BTTB’s annual earning from foreign calls dropped by Tk 135 crore in fiscal 2005-06 from that in 2001-02.
All the while, the business of more than 100 illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) expanded beyond control. Industry insiders say various political beneficiaries are running this business in connivance with a section of employees of leading mobile phone operators and of the BTTB).
Over 70 ISP licence holders, who are paying annual licence fees to Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) without having any valid business or tax records, are also running this operation. The BTRC’s dealing with this matter also raises questions about its role in this business.
While illegal VoIP operation has made foreign calls cheaper than ever much to the delight of the consumers, VoIP operators were involved in laundering hundreds of crores of taka every month, draining away the lifeblood of the national economy, sources said.
This loss is visible in the records of the BTTB.
The BTTB’s revenue earning of Tk 1,583 crore in 2001-02 dropped to Tk 1,316 crore in 2005-06, official data shows. This drop was gradual.
Again, the BTTB’s earning from overseas calls drastically dropped to Tk 244 crore in 2005-06 from Tk 379 crore in 2001-02.
At the same time, revenue expenditure of the BTTB shot up to Tk 826 crore in 05-06 from 463 crore in 2001-02. Part of this sum was spent to procure equipment which were illegally and secretly sold out to illegal VoIP operators, industry insiders say.
“These operators practically grew at the cost of government money,” noted an industry insider.
But now, as the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has launched the first ever drive against this illegal business, things have already started to change.
A market operator said on the international call exchange market, the call rate per minute that was US 2.25 cents a week ago has shot up to four cents. This rate will spiral up further, and in case the Rab drive continues, the BTTB will regain full control of the international call market.
Without specifying the numbers, a BTTB official also said its international call frequency has increased overnight.
The Rab busted over a dozen illegal VoIP establishments in the last two weeks but it could not arrest any kingpins.
According to Rab sources, in all the cases they have recovered telecom devices of the leading mobile phone operators, especially that of City Cell and Banglalink.
These devices include special SIM cards, each of which cost Tk 25,000 or more. “However, these equipment can be purchased by anyone. So, we cannot say City Cell or Banglalink are involved in this racket,” said a Rab official involved in the drive.
He claimed that all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been involved in this racket. But the ISP operators say that out of 225 ISPs, 75 just maintain their licensing status by paying annual fees.
“Of these 75 (ISPs), 65 have special telephone numbers (0101) and the rest have broadband. A few of them may be owned by some rich men who want to do something in future. They can afford the luxury of paying annual licence fees. But what about the rest? Why do they keep on paying fees if they don’t have a visible business? Why does the BTRC allow them to keep their licences?,” said an official of Bangladesh ISP Association.
The BTRC late in 2003 announced legalisation of VoIP and said it will issue licences in early 2004. But it sat on the matter mysteriously till mid last year and issued more than 51 licences. Again, a deprived applicant sued the BTRC for being arbitrary in its decision, and the High Court stayed this licensing process.
January 30, 2007 at 10:17 am
The problem is not in legality or else
Problem is
1. Don’t suddenly stop a service industry without ensuring an alternative.
e.g. Hospitals/Clinics in Bangladesh all are doing illegal stuff. Will you suddenly raid and stop all the clinics without thinking where sick people will go?
Secretariate is full of bribery. Will you close the secretariate from tomorrow?
2. Why BTTB will be given monopoly in VoIP business?
3. I don’t know about you. I simply failed to contact Bangladesh all last week. Neither Bangladesh could contact me using either the 7.50 plan or higher rates of mobile oeprators.
4. VoIP was helping us call mobile phones all over the country. How many people in Bangladesh has a T & T line? And how many dad’s can afford to call overseas even with 7.50 taka deal?
5. Most importantly why kill the illegitimate child rather punishing the father of the illegitimate child? Which political leader or VoIP tycoon has been arrested so far?
6. It is not personal interest. It is a collective interest. The collective interest is Bangladesh.
January 30, 2007 at 10:39 am
VOIP would have been legalized had it not been for the son’s of some ministers that wanted a tight hold on the business. So they kept doing the business without opening it up to regular Joe’s like us.
The question is not that. My question is what happens to the millions of NRB’s like me who are disconnected? What about the workers in the middle east, how do they keep in touch with their family?
Does our decision makers have family abroad?
January 30, 2007 at 11:14 am
Rubel
Yes decision makers have family abroad too. But their scenario is different. I have a student very close to me. He never calls home. His parents call him three four times a day. Even in this bad time, after his dad’s jhhari for two days of difficult connectivity, BTTB made sure that he aways gets to talk to his son.
January 30, 2007 at 11:37 am
We talk big as long as we are not affected personally. But when time comes for our personal interest, our true faces come up. I found no exception here. I myself am affected with this situation but I cannot support this illegal business which is affecting our economy negatively. This cheap call facility was not here forever. It is only 5-6 years old, it grew mainly during the tenure of last BNP govt. Before that Bangladeshis living abroad could communicate with their homeland with some means. If then it was not a problem, why is it now? I understand that calls are much much cheaper with these illegal voip services. But is this what we want to do for our country, to make our govt. deprived of legitimate tax money? Won’t this tax money be spent for the poor people of our country who barely eats thrice or may be twice a day? What if we say this to any foreigner here in abroad? What will be his/her impression on us? If such a situation were to be faced by, for example, americans, would they demand the illegal voip business to be overlooked for their personal interest? I think we live in developed countries but don’t learn anything from them.
January 30, 2007 at 11:39 am
I think bangladeshis spend too much time on the phone bogorbogoring. we pay for it with a smile 🙂
Technology messes up occassionally. we the technologically fluent and endowed should remember that and cultivate other channels of comms and meaning.
Perhaps this temporary absence will give some kids and parents and rellies a little room to breath, maybe it will make our speech more concise, our communities a little less emotionaly dependent and get less chubby.
rapid refresh communications like the phone are very useful, but i feel that the weight of our words has become less as a consequence. (or maybe just with the passing of time..)
remember letters?
I think the CTG should hire me in its spin machine.
January 30, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Russoue
With my true face I am making a request to you. When last I could call BD, my father was a little sick. I need to know wheerabouts of him.
I am not trying to make a cheap call, I am simply trying to make a call to Bangladesh. I am ready to pay any amount for it.
I unsuccessfully tried by my SBC non-VoIP land service to the BTTB connection at my parents place.
Can you please provide me a way to communicate with Bnagladesh? You are hellbent against illegal stuff. So you must then show me a legal avenue to take.
I’ll be eagerly waiting for your help in this regard.
January 30, 2007 at 12:37 pm
After trying several times, I was able to call my mother and a couple of friends this morning. So, it’s not that bad.
Remember the old song by Papia Sarwar:
naai telephone, naai re peon, naai re telegram,
bondhur kache moner khobor kemne pouchaitam.
But we do have daakpeon and telegram. Maybe we need to go back to old times temporarily.
🙂
January 30, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Lopa Apa
Which service did you use? I need it :).
Dakpeon is still there, but telegram is no longer available.
January 30, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Rumi,
What I was trying to say is that this thread is inconsistent with the rest of the website. I almost regularly go through this site but this thread does not seem to be consistent with the moral stand this site showed before.
There must be non-VoIP way to call to Bangladesh. I could call Bangladesh thrice yesterday using gTalk Pinless Dial after trying for 4/5 days. I heard that the other end of this service in Bangladesh is legitimate. But as many people are trying to call with this service suddenly, the call success rate is low.
January 30, 2007 at 1:50 pm
For Rumi:
I used direct line thru Vonage. I used to get connection instantly, but today I had to try a few times(5/6 times) before I can get the connection. Didn’t know we don’t have telegram anymore. Then it’d be a very difficult situation in case of emergency. Specially, for the growing number of old parents whose kids live outside the country. Hope the govt would look for a quick solution to this problem.
January 30, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Rusho I think Your concept is wrong gtalk is also using VOIP.Rumi Bhai Try to use SKYPE
and VOIP Cheap It cost you 10 Euro.
January 30, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Russoue, either you didn’t read what I have been writing in DP lately or you don’t know what is morality.
I am and was as vocal against the patch work of slum demolition leaving thousands of children homeless in this cold weather as I am now against unplanned actions against VoIP.
You tell me about morality? How many companies in Bangladesh have the lineman in their payrole rather than paying BTTB their proper dues?
January 30, 2007 at 9:59 pm
To Rusho,
I really don’t know in which logic You are so convinced that we are loosing Revenue. BTTB has Never reached at the Next level.
If Voip is Opened Revenue stream is triple . To Me Mobile operator or ISp can operate much better than BTTB.
Can BTTB stop Skype or Messengers. See every
bloger knows I am one of the worst Critic of Last BNP Govt. But what Bangladesh govt is doing now. Let them close internet now because Email is affecting GPO revenue.
because of all those Table talk our software
Industry has been died. I myself watched the death of soft ware industry during the period of days of Development. Look at india
Infosys, Wipro and TCS are becoming industry now. Every INDIAN engineers are returning their home because they are getting same Salary seating in India. Telecom is the fast growing sector of Bangladesh. So Because of
some table Talk you can’t kill the servise based industry.
To Asif-
Your insider of the industry is also asking
about Gray market rate of 0.025 not the white market rate. BTTB is selling If I am not mistaken 0.075 almost and that’s why all the foreign operators are buying from MCI, Sprint or Sing Tel. if those operators starts to raise the incoming call for BTTB then how you will call in 7 tk per minute. Even In last some years BTTB even could not develop their international whole sale department. Still If you want to speak BTTB
about this . you need to speak PA of chairman. Do you think this is the right way for Growth of our telecom industry. Every one will go a head and we will miss the train.
January 31, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Hi everyone my name is Hana Ahmed. I am a staff writer for the star weekend magazine of the daily star. I am doing a short feature on this issue and I would really like your help. Can you please write to me about your personal experience as a result of the shutting down of the voIPs with your name and a little bit about what you do. I would really appreciate the help. My email address is hana_s_ahmed@yahoo.com
January 31, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Fug (comment no 12) said DS would never print this. Ahem, humble pie in order?
January 31, 2007 at 3:58 pm
My personal experience says the daily star , at the recent times, doesn’t allow letters which does not conform with its views. For example, Daily Star is dead against student politics. But if you remember, Sheikh Hasina took a bold step to impose an age limit on the leaders of Chhatro League (The leaders must be from HSC batch 1993 or junior). This step was opposed by most AL leaders and the chhatro league ‘adu bhais’. But due to her strong stand on this matter, the BCL council election was held with this rule. I sent a letter to the daily star praising Hasina about the decision, but they never published it. But any single letter against student politics is printed.
Another letter that was not printed is given below:
“I would like to thank you for your excellent commentary on November 29. You have rightly pointed your fingers towards the principal troublemaker of today, President Iajuddin Ahmed. Although his assuming the charge of the chief adviser was controversial, the people of Bangladesh as well as the political parties had hoped that he may play an unbiased role as the chief advisor, rising up to the occassion. But to our utter dismay, we discovered that his actions and deeds so far have been the most controversial and partisan. He has not been able to rise above his party affiliation and allegiance at this critical juncture of our democracy.
I request the President to remove all the impediments towards a free and fair election. I also request the respected readers of the daily star to raise their voice against the sinister design of election engineering. Indefinite blockades surely hamper the economy, but an election without the participation of major parties will result in a complete deadlock that will consequently bring in much greater distress to our people and economy. ”
— Not printed. Why ? May be for the ending lines.
However, there were occassions in the past (3 4 years ago) when they had printed my letters which were directly opposing their stand. But recently, it seems that they select with some weird criteria which I don’t understand.
February 1, 2007 at 7:31 am
Ahem! Can we stick to voIPs in this thread. As vocal as you are I have not yet received any emails on this…
February 1, 2007 at 10:14 am
I have sent u the mail already.
February 1, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Dhaka, Feb 1 (bdnews24.com) – The government in Bangladesh unfairly protects state-run telephone business and thus deters massive foreign investments in telecoms industry, a major global trade body says.
The GSM Association (GSMA) points out that the Bangladesh government protects the BTTB’s monopoly over international phone call business.
In a report, released Thursday, it says foreign investors are least interested to inject fund in the country’s telecoms sector due to BTTB’s monopoly in the international gateway.
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board also overcharges international phone calls, which has eroded the Bangladeshi private sector’s competitive edge in the global market, said the London-based global trade body.
“For Bangladesh-based businesses, competing in the global market, the cost of communicating is substantially higher, putting them at a competitive disadvantage,” GSMA said Thursday.
GSMA is a grouping of more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators from 217 countries.
It said telecoms investment in Bangladesh, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), is 70 percent lower.
According to a GSMA study titled “Gateway Liberalisation: Stimulating Economic Growth”, the country’s international call tariff is two to three times higher than the average for developing countries said
The GSMA study blames BTTB’s monopoly in the international call business for such a bad shape of Bangladesh telecoms market. It says the introduction of competition into the international gateways market can reduce call prices by up to 90 percent and double call volumes.
Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom, for example, received an international gateways licence in 2006 and was able to cut international call prices by 70 percent. Similarly, the price of international calls from Nigeria has fallen by more than 90 percent since liberalisation.
“But this study shows that as many as 70 countries have yet to recognize the importance of competition in this vital gateway to international markets. In a mobile-centric world, and particularly in developing economies, monopolies throttle development and add significant costs,” said GSMA’s regulatory head, Tom Phillips.
“Since countries first began to introduce competition into the international gateways market more than 20 years ago, the trend has gathered pace and the benefits to consumers, business and governments in an increasingly global economy, are now beyond doubt,” Phillips said.
The GSMA’s study found that the old arguments used to sustain international gateway monopolies are simply no longer valid because, whether competition is outlawed or not, new technologies, such as VoIP and VSATs, can bypass the monopoly, and can account for up to 60 percent of international call volumes, even though use of such technologies is often illegal.
“The incumbent international gateway monopoly business model is past its sell-by date; governments should liberalise this market immediately and all stakeholders will benefit,” Phillips said.
Consumers enjoy more reliable and cheaper services after the introduction of competition, according to the study. It says the economy benefits from increased investment, job creation and export-led growth.
By contrast, monopolies hold markets back, the study said citing Bangladesh as one of the bad examples.
http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=8&id=57363#tp57363
February 2, 2007 at 12:14 am
FZ. I hope you know there’s a media censorship slapped on us, don’t you? By the way, Asif and all you guys at Drishtipat, promise me you’ll do everything to get me out if I am sent to the slammer after my article gets printed next friday! Ahem, and a political asylum in the Bahamas???
February 2, 2007 at 2:23 am
Hana,
Lolz. Take asylum in Barbados instead. u can cover the World Cup cricket from there and earn some dollars. After the WC, if u plan to move to Canada to seek asylum, just get me informed. I’ll be getting back to Dhaka, u can take my room at a very cheap rate (Cheaper than the call rate of a 3 hr Canada-BD non-VOIP call).
February 2, 2007 at 4:34 am
Just visit http://www.dot.gov.in/ispt/isptindex.htm
where Indian Govt gives only 3 lcs rs (6000 Usd) to open Voip for Non metro city with only 6% Tex.
They Don’t need to go after head of the department for ECS department of IIT or REC.
Actually There are the reasons because their Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology is Dayanidhi Maran who is one of the founders of Indian Telecom Industry and we need one Maran for Bangladesh as well to understand this industry which can be the biggest money spinner for the country.
February 3, 2007 at 1:13 am
http://www.manabzamin.net/lead-01.htm
After a long time I found a very good article with data and logic. But I Trust instead of speaking with Varsity teachers better they should seat with our Mobile operators who knows these industry .because they do have real time expereince
February 3, 2007 at 2:41 am
Manabzamin took the step, the dailystar has disappointed me. So many of us have sent letters to them, they didn’t care to publish a single one. They’re trying to be safe by publishing in SWM instead. During the political govts, we could at least make our voices heard, which seems to be so tough now.
February 3, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Country like BD their need voip opens for all
We have 14 cror people
Unemployment rate is high here, Gov. may subsidize Internet by BTTB towards mass people by GSM, land line as near free of cost
Hence people may be entire to the BPO KPO call centers etc. along with Internet telephony
It seems rolling bodies has not much experiences on this field, and the same time among them many doing themselves VOIP and restricted to others, for their personal interest.
Can you imagine we have plenty of intellectuals in this field. And we see them caught by rab like a thief. We must ask rab if they ask themselves why VOIP illegal in BD? When it is legal to all countries? One single person taken stay order from the court where as many applied for license and they paid the money asked by authority.
Question 1. Source said voip operators illegal, and by them Gov. not earning revenue but thing mobile operator having good revenue and same to BTTB. viop operators paying bills with VAT.
Why rab says illegal voip escapes GOV revenue?
Question 2.
Ask concern experts if voip open for all then what % of people can be foreign wage earner seating in BD?
How much yearly FC revenue earn by mass IT people
a boy from remote village he may earn FC 5k a month
voip is not only telephony
We loosing interest live in BD anymore
Where IT expert treats like a thief by the ignored / unfit authority
Where legal matters measures as illegal
Dot they see who says VOIP illegal they are illegal
country like BD there need voip open for all
we have 14 cror people
Unemployment rate is high here, Gov. may subsidize internet by BTTB towards mass people by GSM, land line as near free of cost
Hence people may be entire to the BOP KOP call centers etc. along with Internet telephony
it seems rolling bodies has not much experiences on this field, and the same time among them many doing themselves VOIP and restricted to others, for their personal interest.
can you imagine we have plenty of intellectuals in this field. and we see them caught by rab like a thif. we must ask rab if they ask themselves why VOIP illegal in BD ? When it is legal to all countries? One single person taken stay order from the court where as many applied for license and they paid the money asked by authority.
Question 1. Source said voip operators illegal, and by them Gov. not earning revenue but thing mobile operator having good revenue and same to BTTB. viop operators paying bills with VAT.
Why rab says illegal voip escapes GOV revenue?
Question 2.
Ask concern experts if voip open for all then what % of people can be foreign wage earner seating in BD?
How much yearly FC revenue earn by mass IT people
A boy from remote village he may earn FC 5k a month
voip is not only telephony
We may decide not live here anymore, where legal matters treat as illegal
Where an IT expert treat as thief by the ignore/ unfit authority
It’s a killing mission to the young vast IT professionals, GOV not see how India and Philippines doing
We have huge unemployment, VOIP can be biggest earning source of this nation
But unfit authority killing the nation
February 3, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Thanks Ripon For your Timely comments. Actually You pointed out in right way about
BPO industry. Voip Can play important roll. you have courage to speak the truth about unemployment issues as well. Basically after
36 years of independence we never could develop an industrial culture. So our high official does not have the idea of service based industry. Some times It looks Funny when Rab and all those Govt people declared the cost of equipment 1 to 4 crores. and started to give introduction of the equipment. This is called quintum etc etc Blah blah. Basically.
Those people who are seating in the Chair neither they do have any idea about this industry nor they do have business Development sense. Manob Jomin Points out beautifully that If BTTB can not compete the gray operators of on country how can they compete with the other telecom operators in the world. Every Telecom operators has their International whole sale Department. Singtel, PCCw, Star Hub, Hutchinson, AT&T , VSNL even Srilanka Telecom have their corp office in HK or SG.
I am afraid after some days BTTB will be treated as white elephant.
I hope Our Voice will reach to respected body.
February 3, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Janakantha speaks up about the problem.
http://www.dailyjanakantha.com/p1/html9
One thing that u guys need to know. All our mobile operators (Aktel, Grameen, Citycell, Banglalink) have hidden VOIP business. I know it because I used to work for one of them. I don’t want to disclose my identity because I fear I’ll not get a job in a telecom operator once I get back to BD.
Therefore, I think the raids against VOIP are so far against the chuno putis only. The big fishes are spared. That is why still u can make a call connected once in a while.
February 4, 2007 at 12:54 am
I don’t think any mobile operators of Bangladesh is doing any whole sale traffic from their switch or something. Interconnection can be done via any media. secondly any traffic which is onlyrun on
IP is known as VOIP. and I don’t think any Mobile operator of Bangladesh using any IP platform .So who ever you are Just speak with
the logic though u might work in a mobile
company.
Don’t speak any thing on assumption. Mobile operator has every right to give the connection to end user. Now how people are using it is completely their matter. Actually If Mobile operator has 100% authority to control those IP Traffic, It will be quite helpful to the growth of our telecom sector.
February 4, 2007 at 12:56 am
Just Little correction ” any traffic which is onlyrun on PUBLIC
IP is known as VOIP.” I forget to mention Public .
February 4, 2007 at 2:08 am
The mobile operators are using their mobile phone for illegal call termination at BD end. This is not based on assumption, this is from my own witness.
February 4, 2007 at 3:28 am
Mobile Operators ? or subscribers? lots of BTTB pstn lines are used to terminate the call. So is BTTB involved in this Business?
If Mobile opertors use Ip Platform by themselves
then u can only blame.Now another thing In parliament on telecommunication act Opening of VOIP bill has been passed but Last Gov’t did not make any Policy for the VOIP. so Word “Illegal” is not apllicable here.Illegal is only applicable where VOIP is completely Black Like UAE.So your such type of information is going unnecessry against our mobile opertors who have lots of contribution to our economy. So I hope you will be little cutious before publishing such comments.
February 8, 2007 at 9:24 am
It’s a very good news from BD news.I thank
Rumi Bhai to raise this issue
Dhaka, Feb 8 (bdnews24.com) – The High Court Thursday lifted a stay order on voice over internet protocol licensing.
The court order came after Global Access Ltd and Sirius Broadband Bd Ltd pulled out of public interest litigation.
There was another side to the legal battle: a second writ petition filed by Daffodil Online Ltd. The High Court also vacated its stay order on VoIP licensing, which was imposed after Daffodil Online filed the writ petition.
The court order cleared way for Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to invite VoIP licence applications. It also widened scope for cheaper overseas calls to and from Bangladesh through licensed operators.
Anik R Haque, lawyer for BTRC, told bdnews24.com that the court order cleared all legal restrictions for the telecoms watchdog to issue VoIP licences.
The bench of judges Nazrul Islam Chowdhury and Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury lifted the restrictions, which were slapped on November 6, 2006.
The court had earlier ordered the government and the telecoms watchdog to explain why the invitation of application for granting VoIP licences before setting up the common platform exchange should not be declared illegal.
According to the two petitions, all the ISPs except Nationwide ISP have been illegally kept out of the VoIP licensing regime.
The BTRC illegally invited applications on September 22 without establishing a common platform internet exchange inline with a cabinet decision, the petitions said.
bdnews24.com/at/ad/1814 htm
February 10, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Thanks to Hana. This is now a story in the print media. Hope it will knock at the correct doors. Tanoy, can you please update us on the progress on this since we last left it?
http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2007/02/02/sfeature.htm
February 14, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Thanks Hana for this timely column. Thanks Rumi Bhai to bring this topic in light. Yes there is farther development and I felt Govt is going to open the licenses for this. But My opinion This process should be transparent. Govt must be cautious any corrupt politicians
or Dishonest business men should not get who does not have any knowledge of Marketing or technical sense .
. My suggestion is that they should first start with the 4 Mobile operators of Bangladesh and
some recognized ISPS who did have license.
And Asif, all of you are human right worker. My opinion is that Those who are arrested neither they are terrorist nor thieves. Yes they might not pay revenue to the Govt. But you know In Bangladesh so many owners of the black money is traveling every where. My opinion is that already their equipment have been seized and they have lost their capital. But There is no doubt that those boys have developed some amount skill of technicians. So I think This is the golden chance to utilize this force for the development of this sector. because they had been used by all the highest head of the society. They have their family also. we have lots of unemployment issues n the country. So I think we should think of this pint of view and My opinion is that Govt can welcome lot of foreign companies to invest in this sector. I think I even can help also in here as well . But any way Thanks DP for every thing.
March 1, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Well Janankantha has reported about The Corruption on SEWEME4 which is very much related to Inter connection and BTTB.
http://www.dailyjanakantha.com/p1/html4
May 7, 2009 at 11:37 pm
It is a story of 1.5 years ago at 2008.a young boy(26) was caught as a pocket voip related case(engineer).when voip license were not issued at bangladesh.He was not the owner of that.But RAB caught him and sent to jail.blaming 1974-(15/c)emergency act and 15/3(telecommunication act).
i know the boy very well.He is a student of computer science.He is very talent.But unfortunate.
I asked the boy about this.
He told me “why the government is restricting
this?what is the thinking of that govt,is really humorous.they do not give license but restricting,
”
If they do not partial to give license to all,
then young generation will be inspired.
After few days of being caught that boy the govt issued license for only 3 companies.
Now my question is why only three.Is this not partiality.Is it legal?If not then voip is also legal.
Last of all i want to say:
“Keo khabe aar keo khabe na ta hobena”
March 26, 2010 at 12:21 am
I really don’t care who doing VOIP Business and who is not, but why the govt is up-to shutting down ISPs? It’s just causing pain to the subscribers, I wonder… BTCL even don’t have engineers to take over those ISPs services and make sure while they seize the ISPs the services of its customer faces no interruption.
I am really fed-up with this bastard government and their stupid policies, especially on those dumb govt officers who have no idea what VOIP is and they only knows one thing “ITS CRIME!!!”
I wish, I was in states or some other country where I can sue the government for causing damages to businesses and reputation.
Since they shut off Sirius Broadband aka ZIP which provide me a corporate connectivity with assurance of 99.95% uptime, I’m disconnected from internet last 3 days and at last after seeking I find the only way to use Internet is Grameenphone GPRS as I’m bit kind of out of town resident.
In this three days, this downtime has caused me at least $5,000 damages and a bad impressions to all my clients, even I wonder… some new consumers to our e-commerce base maybe even thought we have ran away with their credit card and bank informations… I found 4 threaten email on my inbox today for being sued in United States court as my company is registered in Delaware and operate as offshore technology business.
God saved me! I was going to offer our clients last month $10,000 rewards if they can proves that no support tickets has been replayed within 24 hours of submitting, for some reason… We have decided to make it 2 month delays as re-opening another business brand otherwise by this time… I am probably bankrupted! I’m also feeling good because I have denied my engineers proposal of setting down a Microsoft exchange based corporate communication server here due to slow uplink otherwise right now I probably lost more then 8000+ important mails!
God bless the government, give them some intelligence and I dream, instead of hiring some dumb headed certificate holders they hire some experts who can get the real job done…
Anyways, nice blog… I was searching Sirius Broadband’s phone number and found you guys =) Looks like pretty popular! If you are interested in community writing/sharing (I don’t pay as we do it friendly, but I always try to make my friends happy with suprise gifts that I bring from abroad…) let me know… I guess you have my email, here is my official one: [redacted].
Have a happy express,
Mr. Ahmed Nitul, BD.