Telecom policy should be revised

The GSMA and the country's mobile operators at a seminar Sunday called for major upgradation of the existing telecom policy to make it time-befitting and purposeful with a view to giving a boost to the thriving sector.
Terming the 1998 policy a clear 'impediment' to the development of the telecom sector, they suggested that the government should take some issues, including global shifting of mobile technology, operators' commercial freedom, proper spectrum management, cyber threats and tax rationalisation, into its consideration while revising the policy.
GSMA, a global platform representing the interest of mobile operators across the world, and Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) jointly organised the day-long seminar styled "Realising the Potential of Mobile in Bangladesh" at a city hotel.
To work on updating the telecom policy and relevant other laws, the seminar at its closing ceremony passed a proposal to take a collaborative initiative comprising of the relevant public and private stakeholders.
Abdul Latif Siddique MP, minister for the Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, was the chief guest while Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, secretary of the ministry, and Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), were the special guests at the opening ceremony.
The ceremony was also addressed, among others, by Irene Ng, head of Asia of GSMA, and Ziad Shatara, chairman of AMTOB and CEO of Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd.
TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of AMTOB, Vivek Sood, Grameenphone CEO, Supun Weerasinghe, Robi Axiata CEO, Gias Uddin Ahmed, Teletalk managing director, Rajnesh Cole, chief operating officer (COO) of Airtel, Shameen Ahsan, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of Business Initiative Leading Development, Joe Guan, spectrum policy and regulatory affairs advisor of GSMA, Abdus Salam, CTO of Ericsson Bangladesh, Colen Shi, CTO of Huawei Bangladesh, among others, took part in various technical sessions of the seminar.
Though the telecom sector is believed as a key element to achieve the government vision 2021, some of the speakers said, the National Telecom Policy (NTP) formulated in 1998 and some provisions of the old telecom law as clear 'impediment' to the development of the sector.
Mr Siddique said that the mobile telecommunication sector emerged as an inevitable sector, without which no development and progress could take place.
He also assured that the government would do everything possible considering the contributions of the sector.
Ms Irene Ng said, "More development needs to happen in the country's telecom industry to enable the full potential of mobile for digital inclusion in Bangladesh."
She urged the authorities to update the NTP to cope with changing technology and for mobile enabled solutions in the areas of health, education and financial inclusion.
Mr Kabir said, "Mobile network operators and international organisations can support an effective public private dialogue through formation of a committee with government representatives to engage in a review of the current legislative, policy and regulatory framework."
Despite being ranked as a low income country, Bangladesh's over 50 per cent population subscribed to mobile services and outpaced all its peers in terms of network coverage, some speakers said.
Mobile network operators are looking to innovative Value Added Services (VAS) to remain competitive and respond to the slowing growth in core mobile services, which will help improving livelihoods of the consumers, they said.