Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board (BTTB) starts its journey as a public company titled 'Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited' (BTCL) from today (Tuesday) to provide better services to the customers, reports UNB.
All the 1,170 officials and 12,636 employees will be absorbed in the new company.
The government also formed another public limited company, titled 'Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited' (BSCCL), which also begins operation from today.
Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Brig Gen (retd) MA Malek formally announced the transformation of the two government entities into separate public limited companies at a press conference in the city Monday.
Speaking on the occasion, he hoped that corporatisation of the two new public limited companies would ensure transparency and accountability.
Responding to a query, the CA's special assistant said there was no option to running the BTCL with the old staff of the BTTB as the company will just begin its operation from July 1. "But we can assure you, there will be quick action against all sorts of malpractice and corruption," he said.
He informed that the government would offload the shares of BTCL and BSCCL as per the rules of corporatisation.
"I think, it will take one year to go for offloading the shares, but let me assure you the government will do that as soon as possible," the special assistant said.
The subscribers of BTCL will enjoy new tariff rates from July 1. The revised rates are:
- BTTB to BTTB local calls Tk 0.15 per minute for peak hour and Tk 0.10 for off-peak hour;
- BTTB to BTTB NWD call Tk 1 per minute for peak hour and Tk 0.70 for off-peak hour;
- BTTB calls to other operators (PSTN) Tk 0.80 per minute for peak hour and Tk 0.70 for off-peak hour;
- Calls to mobile from BTTB at Tk 1 per minute for peak hour and Tk 0.70 for off-peak hour;
- Monthly line rent for Dhaka and Chittagong will be Tk 80 with the subscribers enjoying 50 local calls free;
- Monthly line rent at division/district will be Tk 70 with 100 local calls free, whereas the rate at upazila and growth centers will be Tk 50 with 100 free local calls.
