Cut rates for int\\\'l incoming call terminations renewed

Khairul Islam | Published: March 18, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Telecommunications regulator has extended the cut-down rates for international incoming call terminations and revised revenue- sharing structure among the stakeholders, part of its desperate bit to curb 'illegal' VoIP or internet telephony.Â Â
Reduction of the call rates has a price: the government exchequer has incurred a financial loss in the trial period of six months.
On September 17 last year, the state-controlled Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) halved the lowest international incoming call-termination rate per minute from $0.03 to $0.015 for the period that ended yesterday (Tuesday).
The BTRC, in a letter signed by its Systems and Services Division Director Mohammad Zulfikar Ali, recently said the existing trial module of the international incoming termination rate and revenue-sharing structure will continue "until further notice".
According to the directives, the commission receives 40 per cent of the revenue generated from call terminations while the international gateway (IGW) operators get 20 per cent, interconnection exchanges (ICX) 17.5 per cent and client operator or access network service (ANS) 22.5 per cent.
Before the reduction, the regulator used to get 51.75 per cent of the income generated through the call termination, IGW 13.25 per cent, ICX 15 per cent and ANS 20 per cent.
Earlier, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose had told journalists that they took the initiative to help increase government revenue by curbing volume of illegal voice- over-internet protocol (VoIP) call termination.
"However, the authorities failed to achieve the target of increased revenue earnings over the trial period," a senior official with the watchdog said.
On the contrary, he adds, the measure did a disservice as the volume of incoming calls through legal channel has increased since the reduction in rate.
Â "Around 110 million minutes of international incoming calls had been terminated every month since the new structure of the revenue was imposed," the BTRC official said, requesting anonymity.
The officer said before the new call rate, around 50 million minutes of such calls on average were used to terminate through the legal channels.
"However, the volume of the revenue earnings declined as the percentage of revenue sharing with the government got reduced to 40 per cent from 51 per cent along with the halved call rate," the official noted.
However, the mobile operators have welcomed the government measures to increase the time limit for terminating the international incoming calls further at the reduced rates.
Syed Talat Kamal, spokesman for Grameenphone (GP), said according to BTRC's statistics, the volume of the international incoming calls had increased over the period and, thus, the figure of such call through illegal channels definitely declined.
"It's a good sign that the government reduced the volume of illegal VoIP call terminations in the country," Mr Kamal said, adding that government always does not consider how to make money.
Â Â Â khairulislamdu@gamil.com
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