The fate of around Tk500 crore, which IGW operators reportedly owe to the government in accordance to the previous call termination rate, has become uncertain because of confusion over the recently announced rate and revenue sharing structure.
The new termination rate was reduced to ¢1.5 per minute from ¢3, following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s approval on September 18. According to the approval letter, the new rate and revenue sharing structure was supposed to come into effect from the date of issuance.
Also on September 18, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) issued a letter to authorities concerned, setting a six-month test period for the new rate and structure; but as the date for implementation was not mentioned, confusion arose over which date the new rates should take effect.
However, the telecom minister and influential industry figures had reportedly been trying to give the fresh rate a retrospective effect from July 1.
Taking advantage of the confusion, several International Gateway (IGW) operators have followed the new slashed rates to pay the bills for the months of July and August to the stakeholders, especially the ANS (mobile and land phone) operators.
On September 25, Digicon, a renowned IGW operator, paid its dues to all mobile operators in accordance with the new rates, considering the retrospective effect to have taken place from July 1.
Two other IGW operators – Unique Infoway limited and Roots Communication – also made their payments in a similar manner.
Mobile operators were reportedly unhappy as the new reduced rate was used to calculate the bill for call traffic that had taken place before the BTRC letter was issued.
Sources said market leader Grameenphone will lose Tk47 crore, Robi Tk22 crore and Banglalink will lose Tk15 crore if the new rates were made effective retrospectively.
To resolve the issue, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose stepped in and requested the mobile operators to accept the payment. He convinced both parties to agree to the arrangement after taking letters of undertaking that stated that the IGW operators would pay the deficit if the BTRC instruction did not take effect from a retrospective date. The Dhaka Tribune has obtained two such letters.
However, when the Dhaka Tribune tried to contact Digicon CEO Khalid Islam, he replied through a Digicon official – Bishwajit Saha – and said he would not comment on the issue.
According to available data, during the months of July, August and the first 17 days of September, the total incoming international call duration was 465 crore minutes.
If the termination rate and revenue sharing structures are calculated as per the previous rates, the market price of the calls would be valued at $139.5m, including a $72.2m share (51.75%) for the BTRC.
However, as the IGW operators chose to make payments under the slashed rates of 40% revenue sharing for BTRC and ¢1.5 termination rate, BTRC’s share came down to only $27.9m.
The share for the ANS operators, which would have been $27.9m under the previous rate, was also reduced to become $15.7m.
If the deficit between the shares of the IGW and ICX operators under the previous and the new rates are also taken into account, then the total deficit between the two rates of payment would be around Tk500 crore.
The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob) expressed dissatisfaction over the issue of the reduced payment by the IGWs.
“We hope the industry will run under the rule and law, but on this matter we found some absence of that,” ITM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Amtob, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Amtob also sent a letter to the BTRC requesting an initiative to start a consultation process for reconsidering the matter.
“To ensure minimising illegal VoIP calls, the rate of incoming international call rate should be fixed at $0.015/min and not as the floor price as stated in the instruction,” the letter read. It added that the new rates should be applicable from September 19 or onwards as the BTRC issued the instruction on September 18.
“Enforcement of the new rate on a retrospective basis will not be feasible as it has direct relation with the financial reporting system,” reads the Amtob letter.