At least two international gateway operators, backed or owned by influential political leaders, have allegedly vanished into thin air without paying billions of takas that they owed the country’s telecom regulator.
Another operator has been reportedly trying to change its name because it leads to a minister of the current government.
Sources said these IGW operators with close links with ruling party leaders, had been trying to move to safety at the eleventh hour of the government’s tenure because they felt their businesses might face retaliation if a new party took over.
Sources also said some of these firms owed more than Tk9.11bn to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BRTC), the mobile operators and the Interconnection Exchanges (ICXs).
An IGW is a telephone gateway through which calls are routed to get cheaper rates on international long distance charges or to make calls through international networks.
An IGW earns $0.03 per minute of an incoming international call. According to existing regulations, it must share 51.75% of that amount to the BTRC, 20% with the mobile operators whose services are being used for completing that call, and 15% with the ICXs. The residual 13.25% goes to the IGW.
However, there are allegations that some of the IGWs have not paid single dime to either BTRC, or the mobile operators or the ICXs. Instead they have virtually disappeared from the scene with all the money that they had earned from the international calls.
The telecom regulator has failed to trace the people associated with the defaulting.
BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose told the Dhaka Tribune: “Some IGW operators are not maintainingany contact with us and so we cannot trace them. We have started taking actions against those operators to cancel their licenses.”
Sources said the BTRC has already sought the government’s permission to cancel the licenses of Vision Tel Limited, Ratul Telecom Ltd and Telex Limited – the three biggest defaulters.
The regulator is also reportedly planning to file money recovery cases against these IGW operators under the Public Demand Recovery Act 1913 after getting approval from the government.
According the minutes of an October 1 meeting of BTRC presided over by its chairman, 12 IGWs out of a total of 29 have disappeared.
Vision Tel Limited which reportedly fled without paying Tk1.31bn in dues, was once owned by Iffat Hossain, daughter of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain. Iffat sold her stake in the company last December.
Ratul Telecom Limited, owned by Syeda Amrin Rakhi, daughter of State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak, and her mother Syeda Arzuman Banu, owes BTRC Tk890m.
The telecom regulator blocked Vision Tel and Ratul Telecom on September 26.
IGW operator Telex Limited has Tk624.7m outstanding. BTRC blocked its call termination on August28.
BTRC Chairman said: “Ratul Telecom has been keeping contact with us but the other two operators have vanished. We have served legal notices to all of them but only a few have responded.”
On October 28, the telecom watchdog blocked two other IGW operators Bestec Telecom Limited andKay Telecommunications Limited who owe the BTRC Tk1.15bn and Tk890m respectively.
Kay Telecommunications Limited is fully owned by ruling party leader Shamim Osman from Narayanganj. A few days ago he reportedly managed to transfer his share to another person.
In mid-September, BTRC raided Kay Telecommunications’ office in Water Works Road in Narayanganj and found nobody there.
Bestec Telecom’s 40% stake is owned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s former special assistantMahbubul Alam Hanif.
BTRC high officials also informed thatMoazzem Hossain Ratan, a member of the parliamentary standing committee on the post and telecommunications ministry, recently sold his stake at the Bangla Tel Ltd to his partner Nur Ali, a renowned businessman.
Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink – the three top mobile operators of the country – have claimed that the IGWs owe them more than a billion. GP claimed Tk710m, Robi 274m and Banglalink Tk140m.
Although the mobile operators look up to the regulator for a solution to the problem, BTRC has said that they have bilateral agreements with the IGWs and hence it has nothing to do here.
Sengupta Telecom changes name ICX operator Sengupta Telecom, owned Soumen Sengupta, son of minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta, has recently changed its name to become Cross World Telecom Ltd.
Soumen Sengupta has admitted that the nametag “Sengupta” may create problem in future. “We want to do business safely. That is why we changed the name.”
According to the documents that the Dhaka Tribune has accessed, Suranjit Sengupta was a director of the company. But he later resigned before becoming a minister.
