ISPs to get exclusive right to internet telephony services
Sunday, 2 September 2007
FE Report
The government has decided to provide internet protocol (IP) telephony licenses to help reduce the costs of international calls substantially and augment legal calls through internet.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will provide the IP telephony licenses only to the internet service providers (ISPs) as part of its drive to legalise voice over internet protocol (VoIP) across the country, BTRC sources said.
The ISPs will be able to provide easy and affordable telecommunication services to the people across the country by promoting and using the latest technology under the recently approved International Long Distance Telecommunication Service (ILDTS) Policy-2007.
Under the ILDTS policy no mobile phone operators or the fixed phone line operators will be eligible to get the IP telephony licenses, a senior BTRC official told the FE quoting the policy provisions.
As per the section 11 of the ILDTS Policy, the BTRC will provide four types of licenses - international gateway (IGW), interconnection exchange (ICX), Internet Exchange (IX) and IP telephony - to open the VoIP services to private sector.
Keeping the IP telephony license reserved only for the ISPs the BTRC has kept the licenses of the IGW, ICX and IX open.
Section 12.5 of the ILDTS policy clarified it further where it is mentioned that, "IP telephony licenses will be issued to ISP operators except PSTN/PLMN operators having ISP licenses,"
For getting the IGW, ICX and IX licenses the interested companies must have to take part in the auction bidding process, said BTRC sources quoting ILDTS policy provision.
The ISPs will, however, get the IP telephony licenses directly without participating in the bidding, he added.
The ISPs will have to deposit certain amount of money to get the IP telephony licenses, the ILDTS policy pointed out.
Sources said the ISPs will provide IP telephones to their clients across the country for making IP telephone calls in and outside the country under the IP telephony licenses.
Currently the ISPs provide only internet services to their clients through the submarine cables and very small aperture terminals (VSATs) across the country.
"The IP telephony operations by the ISPs will not only ensure government's tough monitoring on calling over internet but also enhance government revenue substantially," President of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) Mohammad Abdus Salam told the FE.
Once initiated, the revenues of the ISPs will augment substantially through IP telephony, he hoped.
Expressing gratitude to the BTRC for keeping the IP telephony licenses only for the ISPs, he said the people will be able to make both local and international calls through IP telephones at much cheaper rates.
He said the BTRC move will not only help the existing young ISP entrepreneurs to flourish but also contribute to the growth of such entrepreneurs in the rural areas thereby solving unemployment problem to a great extent.
Sources said, the IP telephony is being operated by the ISPs in almost all the countries including those of neighbouring India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The IP telephone operations by the ISPs will help check draining of several billions of taka through illegal channels, they added.
The government has decided to provide internet protocol (IP) telephony licenses to help reduce the costs of international calls substantially and augment legal calls through internet.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will provide the IP telephony licenses only to the internet service providers (ISPs) as part of its drive to legalise voice over internet protocol (VoIP) across the country, BTRC sources said.
The ISPs will be able to provide easy and affordable telecommunication services to the people across the country by promoting and using the latest technology under the recently approved International Long Distance Telecommunication Service (ILDTS) Policy-2007.
Under the ILDTS policy no mobile phone operators or the fixed phone line operators will be eligible to get the IP telephony licenses, a senior BTRC official told the FE quoting the policy provisions.
As per the section 11 of the ILDTS Policy, the BTRC will provide four types of licenses - international gateway (IGW), interconnection exchange (ICX), Internet Exchange (IX) and IP telephony - to open the VoIP services to private sector.
Keeping the IP telephony license reserved only for the ISPs the BTRC has kept the licenses of the IGW, ICX and IX open.
Section 12.5 of the ILDTS policy clarified it further where it is mentioned that, "IP telephony licenses will be issued to ISP operators except PSTN/PLMN operators having ISP licenses,"
For getting the IGW, ICX and IX licenses the interested companies must have to take part in the auction bidding process, said BTRC sources quoting ILDTS policy provision.
The ISPs will, however, get the IP telephony licenses directly without participating in the bidding, he added.
The ISPs will have to deposit certain amount of money to get the IP telephony licenses, the ILDTS policy pointed out.
Sources said the ISPs will provide IP telephones to their clients across the country for making IP telephone calls in and outside the country under the IP telephony licenses.
Currently the ISPs provide only internet services to their clients through the submarine cables and very small aperture terminals (VSATs) across the country.
"The IP telephony operations by the ISPs will not only ensure government's tough monitoring on calling over internet but also enhance government revenue substantially," President of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) Mohammad Abdus Salam told the FE.
Once initiated, the revenues of the ISPs will augment substantially through IP telephony, he hoped.
Expressing gratitude to the BTRC for keeping the IP telephony licenses only for the ISPs, he said the people will be able to make both local and international calls through IP telephones at much cheaper rates.
He said the BTRC move will not only help the existing young ISP entrepreneurs to flourish but also contribute to the growth of such entrepreneurs in the rural areas thereby solving unemployment problem to a great extent.
Sources said, the IP telephony is being operated by the ISPs in almost all the countries including those of neighbouring India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The IP telephone operations by the ISPs will help check draining of several billions of taka through illegal channels, they added.