The telecom regulator is going to introduce international calling card services, a cost effective way for international voice communications.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has already made a draft with some conditions for the internationally popular services.
Sources said a couple of months ago, a local company, Hask Production Corporation, sought an approval from the telecom watchdog to run the services in the country.
Hask appealed to BTRC for using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to run its services.
BTRC formed a committee for verification of various technical and financial aspects of the services.
The committee already submitted its report to the commission chairman, said a source.
According to the report, at best three to four companies may be allowed to run the services in the country.
The report suggests that only a No Objection Certificate (NOC) would be sufficient to operate services.
The telecom regulator said no International Gateway (IGW) and no mobile or land phone operators would be eligible for the job.
The operators need to make a handsome deposit and won’t be allowed to cross their financial limit, plus they have to submit a quarterly report to the regulator.
The report also mentioned the route to terminate the international calls.
According to the committee proposal, the users will first dial a toll-free number of the stipulated calling card and then enter the PIN code or follow the direction of call centres conducted by the respective calling card operators.
A senior official of BTRC said they also mentioned that all call must be routed through the Interconnection exchange (ICX) and IGW.
It is a special service offer, which is at least 20% cheap compared to the existing tariff, a member of the committee told the Dhaka Tribune.
He, however, added that calling card services are very handy for international telephone communication for cost effectiveness but somehow the services are currently not functional in the country.