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Call handlers lose out to illegal VoIP

Legal operators blame govt's topsy-turvy stance

Mo Hasan
Legal call handlers are counting losses as some of the government's contradictory announcements made recently have allegedly encouraged illegal voice call terminations with 30 percent calls through legal channels dropping in May.
According to International Gateways (IGWs) and Interconnection Exchanges OCXs) operators, calls worth 21 million minutes entered Bangladesh on May 1 through legal channel, which then came down to 15 million minutes on May 31
A drop in call routing through the legal channel means illegal call handlers are more active than before and already have grabbed 30 percent calls that the legal handlers used to route earlier.
International call routing through legal channel has dropped dramatically after the government's announcement of bringing down call rate to 3 cents from 4 cents with effect from May 18.
Industry insiders said illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) operators were offering less than 2 cents when government fixed the rate at 3 cents.
According to legal call handlers' business model, call volume should be raised by more than 40 percent if they want to keep their revenue at the earlier level when they charged 4 cents. But the 30 percent drop in call volumes has made them worried about the future market.
"We charge the government's new call rate. But at the same time, we don't see any regulatory action against illegal VoIP" said Mir Nasir Hossain, president of Telecommunication Infrastructure Operators of Bangladesh (TIOB).
Hossain, also the owner of 1GW operator Mir Telecom, said: "A cut in our call termination rate means we arc losing business and the government revenues."
The industry people refused to talk officially on the current market status, as they do not know what will actually happen in the market under the new government regulations.
However, they said some of the government's sudden announcements led the market to volatility.
They said when a government body announces to legalise VoIP without justifying its technical side or deciding how it will be handled, illegal VoIP operators are encouraged.
The parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunications ministry on April 30 recommended legalising VoIP.
Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), at a press meet on April 16 said BTRC is monitoring the Very
Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) and continuing the anti-VoIP drive.
But on May 22 the BTRC chairman said like others he felt that VoIP must be legalised and announced to issue more 1GW licences soon after revising International Long Distance Telecommunication Service (ILDTS) policy.
Legal call handlers said such contradictory statementsencouragethe illegal operators.
The last caretaker government issued three IGWs, two ICXs and one international internet gateway (IIG) licences to private sector to handle national and international data and voice service along with state-run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL).
The new international call and data handlers claimed the illegal VoIP business boomed recently after the political government took power. They said around 50 percent of the calls are handled now by illegal operators.
"If the BTCL is able to monitor its IIG traffic and can detect data or voice transferred through the platform (which is only dedicated for data), it will be easy to stop making illegal calls," said a call handler.
TIOB members provided a free deep packet inspection (DPI) system to BTCL seven months ago to detect if anyone uses the data platform for transferring voice, the call handler said. However, BTCL is yet to install the system.
Industry people said interconnection exchanges are not in full-fledged operations yet There is a big loophole as a very few telecom operators have so far been connected with ICXs. "This is also a reason for increasing illegal VoIP," said a call handler.
In the last one year, international call termination through 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 inbound and outbound calls is 5:1.
Every day calls worth 40 million minutes enter Bangladesh, and maximum are handled by VoIP operators.
The new operators along with BTCL terminate international calls through the country's sole undersea cable.
The main customers of international calls are Bangladeshi expatriates. According to a government estimate, around 60 lakh Bangladeshis work in different countries. Manpower export witnessed a 100 percent growth in 2007-08.
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 go up to nine lakh in 2009.
hasan@thedailystar.net