BTRC warns ISPs against resale of internet services

The country's telecom regulator has warned internet service providers (ISPs) against illegal resale of internet services.

In a public statement on Thursday, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said it has been noticed that many ISPs are illegally appointing agents to sell internet services.

"This is a violation of the Telecommunication Act 2001, ISP Licensing Guidelines and other rules concerned."

"We warn everyone, engaged in illegal resale, to stop this practice. Otherwise, there will be legal actions, including cancellation of licence," it further said.

Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) Secretary General Nazmul Karim Bhuiyan welcomed the move.

He said some 2,700 ISPs are now working in the country to provide internet service. The existing market is overcrowded, where the ISPs cannot run their operation smoothly.

"So resale of internet should not be allowed."

The ISPAB secretary general also urged the BTRC not to issue any new ISP licence. Rather, licences of the incompetent ISPs should be cancelled.

In December, the telecom regulator rejected licence application of 301 ISPs, as there was no room for new entrant in an overcrowded broadband internet market.

More than half of those applications were from Dhaka and adjacent areas, according to the BTRC.

In a circular, the BTRC said it could not provide licence to these applicants - as per the new ISP guidelines - to avoid oversaturation in a particular area.

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