Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has begun issuing the VoIP Service Provider or VSP licences for the first time in the country.
BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose handed over the licences to several organisations approved for these licenses at a ceremony on Monday.
“Those who are getting the licence must learn about this business and run it successfully. BTRC will always assist you,” Bose said at the ceremony.
According to the BTRC Legal and Licensing Division, 844 of the 1,004 firms cleared for the licences have paid their fees. The licences are being issued only to those firms who have paid the fees.
Starting from Monday, the process of issuing the licenses would continue for a few more days, BTRC officials said.
On Jan 16, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications had cleared 1004 organisations for the VSP licences in its efforts to crack down on illegal international call termination, which costs the government at least Tk 50 million in lost revenue every day.
On July 22 last year, the BTRC invited applications from the entrepreneurs by posting the final VoIP guideline on its website and 1,500 applied.
The BTRC forwarded the applications to the ministry after evaluation on Jan 1.
According to the VoIP guidelines, the licence will be issued for ‘VoIP Service Provider (VSP)’.
The government formulated the guideline in 2011 to curb the illegal international call termination through VoIP for maximising government revenue.
BRTC says one-third of the average daily international calls amount of 30 million minutes is made through illegal channels.
Bangladesh receives around 55-60 million minutes VoIP calls a day.
The government receives three cents from each international call.
Source: bdnews24