BTRC fines GP Tk 250 cr for illegal VoIP business
AKTEL fined Tk 5cr for irregularities in subscriber re-registration
Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fined GrameenPhone, country's largest cellular phone operator, Tk 250 crore for providing connectivity to the third parties enabling the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), said a BTRC press release on Thursday.
According to BTRC the use of VoIP is illegal and unlawful and caused revenue loss to the government. Last year GrameenPhone paid fine of Tk 168.40 crore for similar offences.
An investigation was carried out where the involvement of GrameenPhone was ascertained and the said penalty was imposed. GrameenPhone has already made partial payment of the aforesaid amount and the balance will be deposited to the exchequer shortly.
"We hope that no Telecommunication operator will facilitate any illegal VoIP ventures, directly or indirectly. The operators are expected to cooperate the government in preventing such activities in future," said BTRC Chairman Major General Manzurul Alam in the press release.
UNB, Dhaka adds: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has imposed a fine of Tk 5 crore on Telecom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) Limited (TMIB), commonly known as AKTEL, for their unethical subscriber re-registration with counterfeit forms of TMIB.
Earlier, in 2007, TMIB paid a fine of Tk 145 crore for a VoIP related offence.
The BTRC in a press release signed by its Director (Legal and Licensing Division) AKM Shahiduzzaman said Thursday that through investigation it was found that some of the contractors of TMIB were involved in counterfeit subscriber re-registration forms of TMIB in a manner not authorized by law.
TMIB lacked sufficient control mechanism to restrict the misuse of the process by such contractors, which resulted in violation of BTRC prescribed directives. TMIB has already made payment of the aforesaid amount to BTRC (Tk 5 crore), the press release said.
"We hope that no Telecom-munication operator will facilitate any illegal activities directly or indirectly. The operators are expected to cooperate with the Government to prevent such activities in future," said BTRC chairman Maj Gen (Retd) Manzurul Alam.
He warned that none would be spared if found involved in any capacity in the telecommunication related illegal business. | GP fined Tk 250 crore: BTRC | | | | Thu, Aug 14th, 2008 6:42 pm BdST | | | | Dhaka, Aug 14 (bdnews24.com) -- BTRC has fined Grameenphone Tk 250 crore for illegal VoIP business, the second time the country's largest mobile phone operator has been penalised for such rogue activities, the telecom regulators announced Thursday.
GP chief of public relations Syed Yamin Bakht told bdnews24.com that the company had received notice of the fine and had already made a payment.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said the Tk 250 crore financial penalty came as GP provided E1 connectivity to third parties enabling the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
BTRC launched a full investigation and confirmed the company's illegal VoIP connectivities after suspicions arose in January this year, the statement said.
In 2007, GP paid a fine of Tk 168.40 crore for similar offences.
BTRC said it trusts that telecommunication operators will refrain from facilitating illegal VoIP ventures, directly or indirectly.
"The operators are expected to cooperate with the government to prevent such activities in the future," the statement quoted BTRC chief Manzurul Alam as saying.
The BTRC chairman added that no-one will be spared if found involved in any capacity in the illegal call termination business.
"We deeply regret that such unlawful practices were carried out and not disclosed earlier by Grameenphone, " said Anders Jensen, chief executive of Grameenphone, said in a statement.
"We have cooperated with BTRC in the investigations and the Grameenphone Board also mandated an investigation by an external auditor to look into all aspects of our operations to ensure that we fully comply with all laws and regulations, " he said.
bdnews24.com/ mua/rhn/rah/ bd/1447hours | | |
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