BTRC revokes licences of 334 internet, telecom cos

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Tuesday revoked the licences of 334 internet and telecommunications service providers, primarily for failing to adhere to regulatory requirements for licence renewal.

The companies, including internet service providers (ISPs), call centres and IP telephone companies, failed to apply for licence renewal at least six months before their expiry as per BTRC rules.

"No applications for renewal were made for these 334 licences or registration certificates after their expiration; hence the commission decided to scrap the licences as per the Bangladesh Telecommunication Control Act, 2001 and the related guidelines," a notice signed by MA Taleb Hossain, director; licensing department; BTRC, reads.

The notice also says that any activity under the scrapped licence or registration certificate will be considered illegal and punishable under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Control Act.

The authorities directed the companies to submit the cancelled licences or registration certificates to the BTRC and pay all dues (if any) within 30 days.

The full text of the notice, including the names of the companies involved, was uploaded to the BTRC website.

Earlier at an even last month, BTRC Chairman Major General (Retd) Emdad Ul Bari stated that the cancellations were imminent.

He said BTRC has awarded more licenses than the market requires.

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