Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will seek the government’s permission to cancel the licenses of the two major defaulters among the International Gateway (IGW) operators, decided a commission meeting on Thursday.
Operations of Ratul Telecom Ltd and Telex Limited has already been blocked by the BTRC as the two have not paid almost Tk2bn of shared revenue.
A highly placed official with the telecom regulator who was present at the 160th commission meeting held in its office, confirmed the decision.
“We will send a letter to the ministry of posts and telecommunicationson the next working day asking their decision on whether we can cancel the licenses of Ratul Telecom Ltd and Telex Limited,” the official told the Dhaka Tribune seeking anonymity.
Ratul Telecom Limited, run by SyedaAmrinRakhi, daughter of State Minister for LGRD, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, had a confirmed outstanding of Tk750.2m to the BTRC till June.
When itscall terminations were blocked on September 26, its outstanding would have had crossed Tk1.25bn.
The company, which was bought from Rupayan Group, is half-owned by Rakhiwhile another 20% of it is owned by her mother SyedaArzumanBanu.
On the other hand, Telex Limited has an outstanding of Tk624.7m and their call termination was also blocked after August28.
Earlier this month, BTRC served show-cause letters to these IGW’s, to which they are yet to reply, sources at the meeting said.
The BTRC has also suspended operations of another nine IGW operators, most of who are politically powerful. Thesecompanieshave a total outstanding of Tk2.78bn in the April to June quarter.
Sources said, BTRC is set to go for Vision Tel Ltd next, whichis alsoa powerful operator and its dues currently stand at Tk735.6m. It has not paida single penny over the last few days.
The other blocked IGW’s, who failed to pay their dues within the stipulated September 25, were, First Communications Ltd, Apple GlobalTel Communications Ltd, 1 Asia Alliance Gateway Ltd, Sigma Engineers Ltd, SM Communication Ltd, Mos5 Tel Ltd, Venus Telecom Ltd and Ranks Telecom Ltd.
According to the guideline, IGW’s earn $.03 for per minute of incoming international call and they have to share 51.75% of it with the regulator.
