HC issues rule on BTRC chief on RanksTel issue

The High Court on Monday issued a rule asking the BTRC chairman and telecommunications secretary to explain within seven days why they should not be punished on charge of contempt of court for not appointing an administrator of RanksTel.
The HC on May 11 in a verdict directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and government authorities to appoint an administrator to run operation of land phone company RanksTel, which the BTRC had shut down in March this year on charges of running illegal Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business.
The HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore issued the rule following a contempt of court petition filed by RanksTel on July 13.

Bangladesh Shut 3 telecom Company – What is the fault of Customer?Isn,t It bad Governance?

WHO IS CARING PUBLIC INTEREST ?
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) yesterday shut down all operations of National Phone for its alleged involvement in illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) business.

I knew a person who is user of  Rankstel , last before t2wo days he get his internet connection down,,,, When he inquire he get the companies shut by Government. He consider himself as a general people of Bangladesh . He is really disappointed.

Nothing New in the execution exercise of Bangladesh Govt to do such a irritating steps,Government have to understand here there is investment ,Public Involvement ,Public Interest.
Only one asking is that How can a political Govt -Govern in such way where there is public interest.I don’t disagree for the punishment of illegal operation of VoiP but is it the way? There is no notice – no case -no nothing. So such a british colonial style of Governance is not acceptable to the general people.
All Govt Administrator must change attitude of BRITISH COLONIAL ADMIN. My urge to BTRC- if the companies are involved in VoiP fine them. If our Constitution allow .

If the decision come to shut please confirm the re middy for customer and let it done then it can be appreciated
Otherwise it can cause LOTS OF HARM TO THE NATIONAL INVESTMENT RELIABILITY .
News:
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) yesterday shut down all operations of National Phone for its alleged involvement in illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) business.
It was the third telephone company to be caught in BRTC’s drive against illegal VoIP operations in a week.
Members of elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) assisted Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission officials during the drive.
RAB sources said a joint team of RAB and BTRC officials seized different equipments used for VoIP calls from National Phone office during their raid.
BTRC officials sealed off the main switch of the company at 9am yesterday, disconnecting its nearly four lakh subscribers from the telecommunication service.
RAB intelligence division chief Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan said VoIP appliances were seized from the National Phone.
The telecoms regulator found similar evidence of illegal operations against other telephone companies – Dhaka Phone and WorldTel, Peoples Tel, RanksTel.

Bangladesh has suspended operations of three private phone operators

Bangladesh shuts three phone operators for illegal telephony ,in less than a week for allegedly running unlicenced phone services, a spokesman of the telecom regulatory body said on Friday.
The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission closed the offices of Ranks Telecom Ltd, or RanksTel, a private firm licensed in 2004 as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), as the government was convinced that the operator runs an illegal business using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), for which it is not licenced.
“We have shut down all activities of RanksTel since Friday morning after we found a huge quantity of VoIP equipment at the company’s office,” BTRC chairman Zia Ahmed said, adding that three employees had also been detained.
On Wednesday, authorities discovered evidence of illegal VoIP operations at the offices of WorldTel Bangladesh Ltd, which has been running PSTN operations since 2000. The phone operator was also switched off, the BRTC chairman said.
Five top officials of Dhaka Phone, another PSTN operator, were arrested Monday on a similar charge. The company’s operations were suspended.
There are nine private operators running PSTN services across Bangladesh beside the state-run Bangladesh Telecom Ltd, providing service to some 1.6 million subscribers.
RANKSTEL’S STATEMENT
RanksTel termed shutting down of its switch room totally illegal.
“The BTRC investigation team and law enforcers did not find any VoIP equipment, yet they sealed our switch room, which is only preventing the development of the local telecom industry,” said the RanksTel statement signed by Director Aman Ullah Chowdhury.
Shutting down RanksTel’s network will cause sufferings to its customers and destroy its image. “We want a neutral investigation into the matter and demand that the regulator opens the switch room immediately,” the statement said.
Operations of the telecom company at 22 call centres, UNDP, City Bank, American Express Bank, Standard Chartered Bank offices here also got closed.