The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The government is loosing around Tk 1208.88 crore revenue per year due to international call termination through illegal VoIP system.

The BTRC is currently working on ways to reduce international call termination through illegal VoIP.

According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), every day some three crore international calls are entering form abroad.

Of the calls, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) terminates some 1.40 crore calls and the rest 1.60 crore calls are dealt by the VoIP traders.

The number of international outgoing calls are between 16 to 20 percent (48 to 60 lakhs) of the incoming calls and BTTB handles most of these calls.

"Huge amount of money is being lost through through illegal VoIP… On an average, we're loosing some US$ 3 cent in revenue per call," BTRC Chairman Major General (retd) Manzurul Alam told UNB.

When the BTRC tightened the drive against illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) business, the loss of revenue rose to US$ 6 cent per call, he said.

Under the strict supervision of BTRC, Mazurul said drives against the illegal VoIP business is going on in full swing and it has reduced this illegal business substantially.

Besides the drive, to minimize the illegal call termination, BTRC is trying to reduce the international call charge close to the rate of the market, the BTRC chairman said.

Quality of the calls exchanged through illegal VoIP is very poor, he said, adding that the unlicensed VoIP trade would naturally become ineffectual if BTTB international call charges could be reduced down to US$ 4 cent that is quite close to the call charge in the gray market.

Recently, most of the cell phone operators in the country were found involved in illegal VoIP trade. Telecom companies including Grameenphone, Banglalink, Aktel and Citycell had been charged with fines for their involvement in unlicensed VoIP trade.

The BTRC Chairman said the second submarine cable would be installed as soon as possible to handle growing number of international calls. The BTRC would also shut down the V-sats which are used as gateways for terminating VoIP calls.