[ First Page ] 2010-07-20

Govt to ride roughshod, BTRC wings clipped

Telecom bill 2010 passed in JS The parliament (JS) Monday passed Bangladesh Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill, 2010 clipping wings of BTRC and strengthening grip of the government over the telecom sector. Telecommunications minister Mohammad Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju piloted the bill and it was passed in voice vote. The amendments stipulate stringent punishment for any wrongdoing with the penalty being as high as Tk 3 billion. After the enactment of the law, the government will be empowered to approve licence applications to provide telecom service, approve tariff rate and call and other charges, and take any action to implement international rules and agreements. The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will submit a report before the government about new licence applications. After scrutinising the report, the government will give its final decision. If a telecom operator wants to sell its stake or merge with any other company, it will need to take permission from the government. The government will also renew licences of the existing telecom operators. The government can now take decision to scrap the licence of any operator and approve tariff rates of the operators. The operators will submit fair and logical tariff rate proposals to the government through the commission and within 60 days of submission, the government will give its decision. If any person provides telecom or internet service without having a licence, he will be penalised with a Tk 3 billion in fines. If any licenced operator without proper approval allows any other person to use telecom installations or equipment, the operator will be penalised with three to five years' imprisonment or Tk 2 billion in fine or both. If an operator gets licence hiding any information or cannot start providing service within the stipulated time mentioned in the licence, he will be penalised with Tk two billion in administration fine. No operator will be allowed to broadcast radio frequency without prior approval from the commission, and if anybody does so, he will face a penalty of Tk three billion. The commission will submit its annual report to the ministry within 120 days after the end of the previous financial year and transfer surplus revenue to the government exchequer every six months. The commission will form a social obligation fund to extend telecom facility to the areas where the service is not available. The fund will receive money from the government, domestic or international organisations or any other legal contribution.