A seven-member technical committee is expected to recommend the government by February 15 how to award licences for the voice over internet protocol (VoIP) quickly by protecting national interest.
The committee is also considering limiting the licences to Bangladeshi companies only for now to maximise financial gains for the country, sources said.
A quick awarding of licences for VoIP operation has become urgent in the backdrop of the recent crackdown on the illegal internet telephony which has bogged down the cheap and easy international calling system.
At the same time, however, in the absence of a common platform through which all VoIP calls would be channelised for monitoring, the awarding of the licence could deprive the government of the same earning that was being drained away by the illegal VoIP operation for the last seven-eight years.
"That is why, the committee is tilted to the idea of awarding limited VoIP licences for now," said a source close to the committee that held a meeting yesterday. "The committee is now reviewing the international call handling capability of the state owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB). The call demand is higher than BTTB's capacity and the VoIP licences may be awarded only to handle calls which the BTTB cannot technically deal with," he said.
The total call demand of the country hovered around 16 million minutes before the crackdown on illegal VoIP began last month.
BTTB sources said it can handle up to 12.25 million minutes of overseas calls a day.
"But this does not mean that everyone is able to connect to Bangladesh as they did before," said an official, adding, "People who have been using illegal VoIP to call Bangladesh will not have that facility now as most VoIP operators have suspended their operations. The BTTB system cannot provide the same facility."
In other words, the BTTB cannot provide enough mobile interconnections. "But we are considering an increase of interconnections to end this problem," he said.
Headed by Saiful Islam, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) professor of electrical and electronics department, the committee has held several meetings and its members are taking opinions of various IT experts.
It is expected to file its recommendations to the government after February 15 and that recommendation would be materialised by the BTTB and the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Sources said the committee emphasises on setting up a common platform to ensure transparency in the VoIP operation.
The move to set up this platform was initiated in mid-2006, but it underwent three rounds of tender bids without any achievement. The present situation demands that both the VoIP licences be awarded soon and the common platform be ready to operate to ensure maximum revenue for the country.
However, the creation of this platform may take another six months.
Meanwhile, a few IT experts, internet service providers (ISPs), and Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) operators association appealed to the committee to limit the licences to Bangladeshi companies only.
They said the mobile companies owned by foreign investors repatriate hundreds of millions of dollars as profit, and VoIP licences will only increase that profit.
"They would continue to enjoy growth even if VoIP licences are not awarded to them as 90 percent of international calls are terminated through mobile phones anyway," said an IT expert.
"Our young generation has somehow learnt how to operate in this area--it is time we gave them an opportunity for our own sake," he added.
Other members of the committee are Buet electrical and electronics department Chairman Satya Prasad Majumder, BTTB member Ashraful Alim, Chief Executive Officer Lt Col Ziaur Rashid Safdar, a member of the Signal Corps of the Armed Forces Division, post and telecommunications ministry Director ATM Monirul Alam, and BTRC Director Rezaul Quader.
The BTRC in late 2003 announced legalisation of the VoIP, a cheap telephony based on internet technology that was booming illegally with the help from influential quarters. But the BTRC mysteriously refrained from awarding licences seemingly under pressure from the influential VoIP operators who were bagging more than a thousand crore taka a year. The government and the BTTB have been the biggest casualties of this business.
CALL SYSTEM RECOVERS FROM SHOCK
The recent crackdown on illegal VoIP operators spearheaded by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) for the first time destroyed the backbone of this illegal business. Initially, this affected the international call system everyone was accustomed to.
On the other hand, overseas calls through the BTTB system have shot up from a daily 3.5 million minutes to 8 million. This covers half of the daily total demand.
Bangladeshis living in North America and Europe--the biggest users of VoIP calling cards--had initially remained almost disconnected from Bangladesh. Now immigrants, who were used to making calls to Bangladesh with calling cards at a rock-bottom price of US 4 cents per minute, are paying almost double to get a connection home.
At the international call exchange market, the per minute Bangladesh call rate has shot up to 5-6 cents from the previous rate of 2.5-3 cents. Market operators said although majority of the illegal VoIP operation has been shut down, some operators are still in the field.
source news : www.thedailystar.net
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