A number of 25,000 Teletalk SIMs have been detected in the use of illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) calls that bring in a loss of around 75 paisa per minute for the government and 10 paisa for mobile operators.
The top three cellphone operators in the country, Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink made the detection in June through MSISDN (Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number).
Seeking anonymity, a BTRC official said in last June, Grameenphone watched 11,000 Teletalk SIMS, Robi 9,000 and Banglalink 5,000 being used for illegal VoIP calls.
The three operators jointly filed a letter of complaint against the state-owned mobile operator on Sunday last.
In the letter addressed to Teletalk Managing Director Gias Uddin Ahmed, they claimed that they have been practising the relevant BTRC guidelines and self-regulation through MSISDN to curb illegal call termination to Bangladesh.
But Teletalk does not seem to be concerned about its SIMs being used illegally for VoIP calls and about following self-regulation process, said the letter.
“We have implemented a robust system to detect and bar suspected grey calls. Unfortunately, a single operator is yet to do that, without which the system to prevent illegal VoIP calls will fail,” said the letter. The letter was also sent to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Earlier on June 17, the three cellphone companies jointly filed another complaint to the Teletalk MD, centring the same issue.
In the letter of complaint, they alleged that they watched the incoming calls from Teletalk to Banglalink, Grameenphone and Robi networks are international in nature.
On the other hand, the average call duration through Teletalk is very high compared with that of other local operators’ calls.
“We once again would like to draw the attention of Teletalk managing director on the same issue,” added the recent letter.
The unusal pattern of Teletalk growth has shown that domestic incoming traffic from Teletalk to Banglalink, Grameenphone and Robi has been increasing significantly while its market share remains unchanged as per the BTRC-published subscribers information.
The suspected traffic contributes to illegal activities being committed by using Teletalk MSISDNs, according to the letter.
Robi Axiata Vice-President Ekram Kabir said: “We hope the regulator will formulate a universal policy that will be followed by all operators to safeguard national interest.”
Contacted, Gias Uddin Ahmed said if anything unlawful happens, the regulatory authority is authorised to detect it.
“It is possible to manipulate MSISDNs. So, we don’t trust this system,” he added.
