Country's telecommunications need wide-ranging reforms
Friday, 13 July 2007
FE Report
Bangladesh needs to end its international gateway monopoly, which makes overseas calls expensive, and strengthen its telecommunications regulator for proper allocation of spectrum frequencies aiming to rejuvenate economic activities.
GSM Association, a global trade association of mobile phone operators, said this in a study on the country's mobile sector with a call to overhaul the international gateway and spectrum policies urgently to realise the full social and economic benefits from the use of mobile phones.
Bangladesh's telecommunications need wide-ranging reforms if the world's seventh most populous country is to boost economic growth, Ricardo Tavaers, senior vice president of GSM Association, said quoting the study conducted by consultant CRA International and law firm Gilbert + Tobin for the GSM Association.
Rob Nicholls, a consultant of the association, Jeanine Vos, regulatory manager of the association, Khaled Hasan, director for regulation and corporate affairs GrameenPhone, and Syed Yamin Bakht, general manager for information of GrameenPhone, among others, were also present at the launching ceremony of the study held at Radisson Water Garden Hotel in the city Thursday.
Jeanine Vos said boosting the capacity of the existing international gateway, which is run by state-owned BTTB, and opening up of the market to other companies, is particularly urgent, as the study has found the current situation imposing a substantial economic cost on Bangladesh.
The study, she said, found that ending of the BTTB (Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board) monopoly would lead to a major rise in call volumes and a 125 per cent increase in government revenues from international gateway services in 2008.
Rob Nicholls said another priority, identified by the study, is giving adequate funding and budgetary authority to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to enable it to act independently.
"The spectrum frequencies should be licensed in a way that reflects its economic value and ensures their efficient use," he said.
Referring to another study by Deloitte for the GSM Association, Jeanine Vos said an increase in mobile penetration by 10 percentage points typically boosts GDP growth by 1.2 percentage points per annum in developing nations.
She further said, according to Wireless Intelligence, Bangladesh has a mobile penetration of 15 per cent, which is significantly lower than in many other Asian countries
Besides, Bangladesh needs to restructure taxation such as taxes on new SIM cards and handset and imports of equipment to encourage growth in mobile usage. Telecommunications capital equipment should have import duty not higher than 5-6 per cent, she said.
The GSM Association is representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators in 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.
Bangladesh needs to end its international gateway monopoly, which makes overseas calls expensive, and strengthen its telecommunications regulator for proper allocation of spectrum frequencies aiming to rejuvenate economic activities.
GSM Association, a global trade association of mobile phone operators, said this in a study on the country's mobile sector with a call to overhaul the international gateway and spectrum policies urgently to realise the full social and economic benefits from the use of mobile phones.
Bangladesh's telecommunications need wide-ranging reforms if the world's seventh most populous country is to boost economic growth, Ricardo Tavaers, senior vice president of GSM Association, said quoting the study conducted by consultant CRA International and law firm Gilbert + Tobin for the GSM Association.
Rob Nicholls, a consultant of the association, Jeanine Vos, regulatory manager of the association, Khaled Hasan, director for regulation and corporate affairs GrameenPhone, and Syed Yamin Bakht, general manager for information of GrameenPhone, among others, were also present at the launching ceremony of the study held at Radisson Water Garden Hotel in the city Thursday.
Jeanine Vos said boosting the capacity of the existing international gateway, which is run by state-owned BTTB, and opening up of the market to other companies, is particularly urgent, as the study has found the current situation imposing a substantial economic cost on Bangladesh.
The study, she said, found that ending of the BTTB (Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board) monopoly would lead to a major rise in call volumes and a 125 per cent increase in government revenues from international gateway services in 2008.
Rob Nicholls said another priority, identified by the study, is giving adequate funding and budgetary authority to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to enable it to act independently.
"The spectrum frequencies should be licensed in a way that reflects its economic value and ensures their efficient use," he said.
Referring to another study by Deloitte for the GSM Association, Jeanine Vos said an increase in mobile penetration by 10 percentage points typically boosts GDP growth by 1.2 percentage points per annum in developing nations.
She further said, according to Wireless Intelligence, Bangladesh has a mobile penetration of 15 per cent, which is significantly lower than in many other Asian countries
Besides, Bangladesh needs to restructure taxation such as taxes on new SIM cards and handset and imports of equipment to encourage growth in mobile usage. Telecommunications capital equipment should have import duty not higher than 5-6 per cent, she said.
The GSM Association is representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators in 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.