The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

The government will be able to earn Tk 1,500 crore revenue each year through the operations of Interconnection Exchanges (ICXs), International Gateways (IGWs) and International Internet Gateway (IIG) without making any investment, said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman Major General (Retd) Manzurul Alam.

"The government did not spend a single penny. If the six operators which were given licences can work properly, the government will be able to earn revenue of Tk 1,500 crore each year," he said while formally launching the operation of ICX of GETCO Telecommunication Ltd on Saturday at Quaderia Tower, Mohakhali in the city.

Launching the operation of ICX of GETCO Telecommunications Ltd, the BTRC Chairman said, "Today is a remarkable day for the telecommunication sector of the country."

Because our people will now be able to talk with our over 60 lakh expatriates who are scattered across the world. Illegal VoIP business has ended and the six licensed companies are supposed to generate about Taka 1,500 crore revenue for the government annually."

"Telecommunications will change Bangladesh's socio-economic conditions. I believe this and other should also believe so," he said.

Managing Director of GETCO Telecommunications Ltd KM Khaled presided over the inauguration ceremony.

BTRC Commissioner Ali Bardi Khan, Directors of GETCO KM Rakib Hasan and Hafizur Rahman were present at the function.

Apart from the Dhaka ICX, the GETCO Telecommunication has also set up ICX exchanges at Sylhet and Bogra to provide nationwide services.

The GETCO Telecommunication ICX is designed to carry daily traffic of 5 million minutes of international traffic and 17 million minutes per day of inter-operator traffic.

The exchange is also designed to carry one-third of international and inter operator traffic and 50 percent traffic at Bogra and Sylhet. The switch is capable of handling a total 16 million busy hour call attempts (BHCA).

"ICX technology is still rare in this subcontinent and we introduced it with high hopes to change socio-economic condition of the common people through improving telecommunication of the country," Manzurul Alam who played the key role of massive crack down on illegal VoIP business added.

"However, we are lagging behind for lack of trained people in the telecommunication sector. Students of only one or two universities are found to be qualified at the time of their interview for jobs. So my request to the IT teachers is to build up students with the knowledge of modern technology instead of selling certificate. For some sort of prejudices we are not adopting the latest technology at right time. But this is a must for the development of the country, the chairman pointed out." ICX is the suitable hi-tech option for lowering infrastructure cost for connecting operators, eliminating monopolies and facilitating competitions. Effective monitoring is possible as all the traffic is routed through the ICXs.

Rakib Hassan, Director of GETCO Group, said, "GETCO Telecom was awarded licence by BTRC in February 2008 to operate ICX and BTRC fixed a time limit for us to start the operation within six months. We are proud to start the operation ahead of time."

Apart from the launching of ICX operations of GETCO Telecommunications Ltd, operations of the interconnection exchange (ICX) of M&H Telecom Limited and two other international gateways (IGWs)-Novotel Limited and Bangla Trac Communications Ltd-were also formally launched by BTRC Chairman Major General (Retd) Manzurul Alam on Saturday.

Tarique E Haque, Managing Dircetor of Bangla Trac said: "We have installed state-of-the-art Ericsson's technology including AXE-810 based telephony server operating on EIN 3.1."