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Call handling goes private

Mir Telecom is the first to come on stream

Star Business Report
Mir Telecom, one of the private international call handlers, yesterday launched its operation, joining hands with the government to stop illegal call terminations through VoIP.
Equipped by China-based Huawei's technology, Mir Telecom set up its international gateway (IGW) exchange in Dhaka with the capacity of handling 20,000 calls at a time.
Mir Telecom is one of the three local private IGW licence winners, awarded by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in February. The other companies are also ready to go into operation next week.
The telecom industry has welcomed the move, but it does not confirm an immediate end to illegal VoIP business.
Retired Brigadier General MA Malek, in charge for the telecom ministry, inaugurated Mir Telecom's operation.
Illegal call termination was a common practice in Bangladesh. In the past few years, operators including mobile and landline operators and some politically-backed IT firms had been involved in VoIP business.
"Illegal international call
termination through VoIP has yet to end," said BTRC Chairman Manzurul Alam at the function. "BTRC's move against illegal VoIP will con tinue."
Illegal international call terminations have cost the state coffers of Tk 6,000 crore in yearly losses, according to industry insiders. However, the past governments did not take any step to legalise or stop it.
Later, the caretaker govern ment had launched a massive drive against illegal VoIP with the BTRC realising Tk 83*1 crore in fine from mobile oper ators for their alleged involve ment in illegal VoIP.
The government had taken an initiative and added a section to the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy 2007 to legalise VoIP. According to the policy, three local companies had been awarded for interna tional call terminations, along with state-run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, formerly BTTB.
The BTRC chairman estimated that the government would earn Tk 1,500 crore a year, after private IGW operators were in place.
In his speech, Mir Nasir Hossain, a part-owner of Mir Telecom, said: "The govern-
ment's revenue will increase significantly if illegal channels are stopped.
Hossain pointed to the flow of outbound workers, which indicates good business for IGW operators.
BTCL was the sole company in the field, handling overseas calls of 20 million
minutes a day. The entry of the new companies will widen the $2 billion market three times, industry insiders predicted.
During the last one year, the international call termination through the legal channel increased from nine million minutes a day to 20 million,
after the telecom regulator launched a massive drive against illegal calls. The ratio of calls in and out of Bangladesh is5:l.
The new operators along with BTCL will terminate international calls through the country's sole undersea cable. As per the international gateway
(IGW) policy, the operatorswill share 51.75 percent revenue with the government.
According to BTRC, the country's tele-penetration rate is 29 percent thanks to robust growth of mobile telephony.
Along with IGWs, the BTRC in February also awarded licences to two other local companies -- M&H Telecom and Getco Telecommunications for interconnection exchange (ICX) services.
From the technical side, overseas incoming calls to be received by the IGW operators will reach users by mobile or landline phone.
According to the IGW policy, 80 percent of calls to Bangladesh will be terminated at each of the four IGW operators, which will compete for the remaining 20 percent.
The main customers of international calls are Bangladeshi expatriates. According to a government estimate, about 60 lakh Bangladeshi workers work in different countries. The growth of manpower export witnessed 100 percent growth in 2007-08.
The government data shows the number of outbound workers was only four lakh in 2007, which increased to eight lakh in 2008. The government expects the number of migrant workers to nine lakh in 2009.