ISPs to sign deals with small operators on Internet service

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Sarwar Zahan
The licensed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will have to sign deals with the small operators for providing internet service to households and individuals and send copies of the agreements to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) by November 1, according to BTRC sources.
The BTRC instructed the ISPs at a meeting to follow the guideline in this connection strictly to check illegal use of internet.
The BTRC, however, allowed the small internet operators to sell services to subscribers on behalf of the licensed ISPs, on the condition that the licensed ISPs would have to strike deals with the operators and send copies of agreements to the BTRC by November 1.
But, responding to an appeal from the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) the BTRC softened its stance asking the ISPs to strike formal agreements with the small operators to bring discipline and continuation of uninterrupted business.
The government took the initiative to strengthen its monitoring of activities of internet service providers after detecting involvement of several ISPs in illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) business, BTRC sources said.
Bangladesh has around 207 licensed ISPs. But there are hundreds of small ISPs across the country providing internet services to individuals and households through buying a bulk of bandwidth from the licensed ISPs.
The number of internet users in the country is around 1.0 million and many of these users have taken internet connections from small ISPs that do not have operating licence.
The existing internet subscribers will continue to get the service from the ISPs in the event of cancellation of deals with the small operators.
SPA sources said they have agreed with the decisions taken at the meeting with the BTRC chairman in the chair.