Amid criticism from experts, the government has taken an initiative to update the telecommunications policy in a way that will ensure people’s privacy, interests of the state and increase foreign direct investment.
Apart from disapproving of the move, experts have proposed a merging of the telecommunications policy with the information and communication technology policy.
They also said broadband, online and broadcast policies should be included in the telecom policy.
“We have a lot of specialised policies in this sector which is unnecessary. Also, those might overlap and lead to confusion over different issues,” Mostafa Jabbar, former president of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), told the Dhaka Tribune last week.
The National Telecommunications Policy was formulated in 1998 and has never been updated.
The telecom ministry has now decided to upgrade the policy in response to the demands raised by foreign investors over the last couple of years.
“Some of us have earlier tried to present our ideas to take the policy to a higher standard but this time, it is the bureaucrats who are making all the decisions,” said Jabbar.
However, leading mobile operator of the country Grameenphone has welcomed the initiative.
“We thank the government for this but our point is to prioritise the telecommunications policy over others. There could be several policies in place in the country’s communication and technology sector but the telecom policy should reign over others when a conflict arises, for example,” Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, told the Dhaka Tribune.
The Posts and Telecommunications Division has invited opinions on the initiative by posting a notice on its website and anyone can send feedback via email to “[email protected]” until March 17.
“The poorly-drafted one-page notice containing both Bangla and English texts is very confusing and should be intended for anything but public consultation,” said LIRNEasia’s Senior Policy Fellow Abu Saeed Khan.
He also questioned its legitimacy, which bears no official seal and has been signed by a someone whose name is not clear.
“Moreover, broad opinions have been sought on a wide range of issues instead of being specific on the topics to be consulted.”
Saeed also thinks that the March 17 deadline for responding to this “so-called public consultation is utterly farcical.”
