Govt to slash tax on ICT machinery

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The government is planning to slash the tax on ICT machinery import to take telecommunications services to people's doorstep as part of the measures for implementing its Vision 2021 through building up the Digital Bangladesh, reports UNB.
Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Zia Ahmed Wednesday unveiled the government plan for tax cuts on information communication technology (ICT) machinery.
But the BTRC head said they have no plans to fix up call rate for mobile phone operators. Rather, he prefers a sound competition within the prefixed highest and lowest call rates.
He said BTRC would work sincerely to implement the government's Vision 2021 and translating the dream of Digital Bangladesh into reality.
The BTRC chairman was addressing a press conference in its conference room to unveil the plan for World Telecommunications Day (WTD) - 09 observance.
He said they would review the ILDTS (International Long Distance Telecommunications Services) Policy, and a committee had already been formed in this regard.
"We'll take opinion from experts, even from common people, through internet to make the policy acceptable to all," he told reporters.
Describing the progress of revenue earning, he said they have so far earned Tk 22.00 billion in revenues against the target of Tk 25.00 billion in the current fiscal. The revenue earning was only Tk 16.00 billion in the previous fiscal.
On controlling illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) business bonanza, the BTRC chairman said they would apply multifaceted strategies to control the VoIP underworld. He said they would intensify the ongoing drive against the clandestine VoIP business soon.
Asked about having an own satellite of Bangladesh, he said the issue is still in research level. "We're in touch with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) over the issue."
He said they did not finalise the licensing policy for 3G (3rd generation) services, while policy of IP telephony has been finalised.
He claimed that tele-density and internet penetration have largely increased, and these would increase further if services were made affordable.
Unveiling the plan of the WTD-09, he said they, for the first time, would celebrate the occasion outside Dhaka through two-day elaborate programmes.
An FE report added that Chittagong Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh has been selected as venue for the two-day event on May 17 and 18, where 21 stalls of cellphone operators, call centres, PSTN (public switch telephone network) operators, telemedicine, community radio and video conferencing system will be set up.
The BTRC chairman hoped the event would, therefore, be an excellent opportunity to launch public campaigns and advocacy activities in favour of greater access to ICT and how the work of BTRC helps all of the world's people to communicate.
Zia Ahmed said they would organise seminars on ICT and host various contests for the students of schools and colleges, including essay competitions.
There might be an option for instant voter-registration process, which will be conducted by army officials, he added.