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PSTN operators suffer hurts to business

Illegal use of PCO by mobile operators blamed Md Hasan
Private landline operators complain of damage to their business, as the telecom regulator is not taking any step against the use of PCO (public call office) by mobile phone operators that are not entitled to such facility.
The use of PCO by cellphone operators goes against their licensing terms and conditions, but Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) seems unconcerned, alleged private landline companies.
PCO is a telephone facility located in a public place. There are two types of PCO -- landline and wireless. Wireless PCO uses two kinds of technology - CDMA (code division multiple access) and GSM (global system of mobile communication).
People, who do not have any access to mobile or land phone, use PCO. In Bangladesh the mobile operators have so far set up around one million PCOs, which are generally used for commercial purposes.
The private landline operators, now struggling to survive in the mobile-dominated market, said they should be given nationwide mobility if mobile operators are allowed to run PCOs.
"I don't know how mobile operators can do PCO business," said A Rouf Chowdhury, president of the Association of PSTN Operators of Bangladesh.
In line with licensing terms and conditions, only PSTN (public switched telephone network) operators can run PCO business, he said.
According to the mobile phone operators' licence, they should offer only mobile phone service, not fixed phone service. Moreover, since the last few’ years some mobile operators have been offering fixed wireless terminal (FWT) service, which is allocated only to private PSTN operators.
Such violation of mobile licensing agreement has made the playing field uneven for the country's telecommunication sector, hindering the growth of private PSTN operators, Chowdhury said.
According to industry insiders, mobile phone operator Grameenphone has 4.16 lakh PCOs, Banglalink 2 lakh, AKTEL 1.23 lakh, Warid 44,000, Citycell 25,000 and TeleTalk has 20,000,
while PSTN operators have only 30,000.
In a recent development, BTRC formed a committee to resolve the problems that have held back the growth of private PSTN operators. But the committee is yet to recommend anything over the PCO issue.
An official of a mobile operator told The Daily Star: "If BTRC thinks we should stop PCO business, we will have to. But the regulator should consider how many people have been employed and connected by the PCO services.”
The service is popular in rural areas that are not covered yet by PSTN operators, the official said.
BTRC officials said they allow the use of PCO by mobile operators in the greater interest of the rural community. Thousands of people now depend on PCO services, they said.
The operators have meanwhile urged the
government to put a five-year freeze on their obligation to pay back bank loans.
"We urge the finance ministry and Bangladesh Bank to get us relieved of paying bank instalments for the next five years," said Md Jahangir, secretary to the association.
Jahangir blamed the failure in repaying bank loans on the alleged discriminatory polices in the telecom sector. "If the government doesn't meet our demand, all operators may go bankrupt."
The operators also urged the telecom regulator to liftTk 800 tax on each connection.
So far 15 private landline operators have taken licences from BTRC. Of them, 11 are in operation. They added 4.55 lakh customers as of September this year.
hasan@thedailystar.net