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Bangladesh: Government selling licenses for internet telephony Print E-mail
Tuesday, 21 August 2007

The government of Bangladesh will auction Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) licenses for private operators in October.

The telecommunications authority announced that the government has approved the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services (ILDTS) Policy, 2007 to liberalize VoIP. The government has established a three-tier telecommunications infrastructure. The first stage is international gateways connected to submarine cables and interconnection exchanges. The second stage is interconnection exchanges linked to the international gateways and access network service (ANS). The final stage is direct service to customers.

The new policy marks the end of the government’s monopoly over international gateways (IGWs). The government has decided to auction licenses for three IGWs and two interconnect exchanges (ICXs). Under the ILDTS policy, no foreign companies, including existing fixed and mobile operators, will be eligible to participate in the auction.

All three IGWs will be set up in Dhaka and connected to the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) submarine cable. The two ICX licenses will involve two exchanges being set up in Dhaka and one each in four other cities. The government will also issue a license for an Internet exchange (IX) for the private sector. Only Dhaka and south-eastern Chittagong will have an exchange to provide the access network service (ANS) operators with data services.

Under the new policy, the government will not issue fresh licenses for VSAT and the existing VSATs will be shut down in phases.

The BTRC will invite applications for the licenses in September and then hold the auction in October. The private international phone services are expected to begin by April 2008.

Source: Xinhua - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.