Four telcos fined Tk 76.5m

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fined Tk 76.5 million to four mobile phone operators -- Teletalk, Robi Axiata, Grameenphone and Banglalink -- for using illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
The regulator issued separate letters to the telecom operators to this end on June 07.
The operators have been asked to pay the penalties by June 30 this year.
Of the telecom operators, BTRC fined highest Tk 50 million to the state-owned mobile phone operator Teletalk, second highest Tk 20 million to second largest telecom operator Robi, Tk 5.0 million to the largest mobile phone operator Grameenphone and Tk 1.5 million to Banglalink.
The fines were based on SIM used for illegal VOIP recovered in drives conducted by BTRC in different places of the country, letters said.
The fines were fixed at a hearing held in the BTRC office participated by representatives of operators and top BTRC officials on June 07.
Initially, the four mobile phone companies were fined Tk 266.2 million in total.
Of them, the commission fined Tk 177.4 million to the state-owned Teletalk and the amount was Tk 75.5 million to Robi, Tk 9.9 million to Grameenphone and Tk 3.362 million to Banglalink.
The amounts, however, were reduced based on the appeal of the mobile phone operators to reconsider the decision of the regulatory on penalties.

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