The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has slapped a Tk 2 lakh fine on internet service provider Optimax Communication for changes in the composition of its shareholding without taking the telecom watchdog’s prior approval, which violates the licencing guidelines.
Established in 2003 with 14 parties, the shareholders have been buying and selling stakes amongst themselves. For each transaction, they were supposed to inform the BTRC, which they failed to out of ignorance.
The commission may cancel, suspend the licence and impose a fine and the licensee shall be liable for action, as per the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act, 2001.
Optimax Communication changed the composition of its shareholding four times without taking approval, according to the BTRC.
On September 3 last year, the telecom watchdog sent a show-cause notice to the company.
In the reply on November 4 last year, the Optimax authority said they were not aware of the clause in the licencing guideline. It was an unintentional mistake and they pledged never to repeat it. At the same time, they sought approval for changing their shareholding composition once again.
However, the BTRC found the response unsatisfactory and imposed the fine on them.
The rules are stated clearly in the licencing guideline, so if anyone says they were not aware, it is not acceptable, BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder told Dhaka Tribune.
“I will not allow for this and the concerned people should be penalised for the violation of the guideline,” he added.
“We exchanged shares within us, so we did not think it was a grave matter to inform the BTRC -- it was simply our ignorance,” said Imdadul Haque, a director of Optimax Communication.
The company got the licence for being an international internet gateway (IIG) in April 2012, which is what got them under the BTRC scanner.
“Though it is not so serious an issue for ISPs, we are IIG too and the BTRC strictly monitors the guideline and rules for IIG companies. They take any issue of the IIG seriously,” said Haque, also the secretary-general of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh.
Optimax has acknowledged its wrongdoing and paid the fine last week.
“We are now well aware of the issue and won’t repeat it,” he added.