Appointment of Banglalink CEO raises eyebrows

The appointment of Erik Aas as the CEO of Banglalink, the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, has raised eyebrows among industry insiders as the Norwegian telecoms professional has past records of criminal charges against him.
Aas, who was accused by Bangladesh telecoms regulator of being involved in illegal voice over internet protocol (VoIP) trade twice while serving Grameenphone as CEO, joined Banglalink as the chief executive officer on December 1 last year.
Bangladesh’s largest mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) paid fines to the government twice in 2007 and 2008 to settle the accusations brought by the authorities against Aas and other officials. GP paid Tk 418 crore in fines following the VoIP scam and the top management had to go through a major reshuffle to retain its licence to operate in Bangladesh.
Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam, who has experiences as a lawyer in energy, telecommunications and IT sectors, said there is no legal bar for Aas to serve any mobile phone operator in Bangladesh. “But one can certainly raise ethical questions regarding the appointment,” he added.
When approached, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said if the person (Erik Aas) once stood accused of illegal VoIP operation and if his office got him cleared by paying fine, his offence is proven.    
“Under the circumstances, his appointment in the telecom sector is unethical. And a responsible corporate house cannot do this,” added Iftekharuzzaman.
Iftekharuzzaman went on, “Business does not only mean profit making. It must adhere to ethics. I believe this appointment is unethical.”
The Independent contacted Banglalink for comments over the appointment of Aas despite the records of criminal charges against him. But the operator declined to comment on the issue of ethics relating to the appointment of its new CEO.

Asif Ahmed, head of corporate communications of Banglalink, said, “VoIP was an industry issue for 2006-07 and not a person-specific issue. Banglalink is not going to comment on issues relating to any other operator.”
The BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) filed a case with the Gulshan Police Station in the capital against 10 officials of GP, including Aas, over illegal VoIP business.
The case, however, discontinued as the operator obtained indemnity by paying administrative fines, said plaintiff in the case, Jian Shah Kabir.
In 2007-08, the government realised Tk. 838 crore in fines from GP, Banglalink, AKTEL,now renamed as Robi, and Citycell after the operators were found running illegal VoIP operations.
GP paid Tk. 168 crore and Tk. 250 crore in fines on two occasions, Citycell Tk. 150 crore, AKTEL Tk. 145 crore and Banglalink Tk. 125 crore. Private land-phone operator RanksTel was also fined Tk. 15 crore.
During the army-backed caretaker government, the BTRC had conducted several drives against illegal VoIP operations. The then BTRC chairman, Maj. Gen. Manzurul Alam (Retd), took the initiative to scrutinise call lists and found evidence of the mobile phone operators’ involvement in the illegal VoIP business.
Following the drive, Manzurul Alam told reporters that the investigations revealed that GP CEO and his team had extended their cooperation to the illegal VoIP business.
GP also admitted to wrongdoing, as Anders Jensen, the then CEO of the Norwegian company, in a written press statement in August 2008, said, “We deeply regret that such unlawful practice was carried out and not disclosed earlier by Grameenphone.”
“We have cooperated with BTRC in the investigations, and the Grameenphone board also conducted an investigation by an external auditor to look into all aspects of our operations to ensure that we fully comply with all laws and regulations,” Jensen added.
A case (No. 46, Jan 16, 2008) was filed against GP officials by Jian Shah Kabir, the then assistant director of the Legal and Licencing Division of BTRC, with Gulshan Police Station.
According to the case, a BTRC team carried out a drive in GP office on December 6, 2007, and found four E-1 connections from the operator to Access Tel network. The team later carried out investigations in the GP office till December 14, where it found evidence that senior officials of the mobile phone operator were involved in the illegal VoIP business.
The then GP head of revenue assurance, Espen Wiig Warendorph, verbally asked its officials not to provide call records of a particular mobile phone number to law enforcers. The number was used by AccessTel for call termination, the investigation later found.
Apart from the officials of GP, AccessTel, a local Internet service provider, and Malaysia-based international call carrier DiGi Telecommunications were also on the accused list.
In the FIR, the telecoms regulatory body said these three companies and the individuals were involved in providing international call termination facility or VoIP.
Banglalink is fully owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd of Malta, which is a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding. Following business combination, in april 2011, between Vimpelcom Ltd and Wind Telecom S.P.A, Vimpelcom owns 51.92 percent shares of Global Telecom Holding.
Telenor ASA, the Nordic region’s largest phone company, holds 33 percent stake in Vimpelcom Ltd. Telenor has 55.80 percent stakes in Grameenphone.

 

Appointment of Banglalink CEO raises eyebrows

The appointment of Erik Aas as the CEO of Banglalink, the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, has raised eyebrows among industry insiders as the Norwegian telecoms professional has past records of criminal charges against him. Aas, who was accused by Bangladesh telecoms regulator of being involved in illegal voice over internet protocol (VoIP) trade twice while serving Grameenphone as CEO, joined Banglalink as the chief executive officer on December 1 last year. Bangladeshs largest mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) paid fines to the government twice in 2007 and 2008 to settle the accusations brought by the authorities against Aas and other officials. GP paid Tk 418 crore in fines following the VoIP scam and the top management had to go through a major reshuffle to retain its licence to operate in Bangladesh. Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam, who has experiences as a lawyer in energy, telecommunications and IT sectors, said there is no legal bar for Aas to serve any mobile phone operator in Bangladesh. But one can certainly raise ethical questions regarding the appointment, he added. When approached, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said if the person (Erik Aas) once stood accused of illegal VoIP operation and if his office got him cleared by paying fine, his offence is proven. Under the circumstances, his appointment in the telecom sector is unethical. And a responsible corporate house cannot do this, added Iftekharuzzaman. Iftekharuzzaman went on, Business does not only mean profit making. It must adhere to ethics. I believe this appointment is unethical. The Independent contacted Banglalink for comments over the appointment of Aas despite the records of criminal charges against him. But the operator declined to comment on the issue of ethics relating to the appointment of its new CEO. Asif Ahmed, head of corporate communications of Banglalink, said, VoIP was an industry issue for 2006-07 and not a person-specific issue. Banglalink is not going to comment on issues relating to any other operator. The BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) filed a case with the Gulshan Police Station in the capital against 10 officials of GP, including Aas, over illegal VoIP business. The case, however, discontinued as the operator obtained indemnity by paying administrative fines, said plaintiff in the case, Jian Shah Kabir. In 2007-08, the government realised Tk. 838 crore in fines from GP, Banglalink, AKTEL,now renamed as Robi, and Citycell after the operators were found running illegal VoIP operations. GP paid Tk. 168 crore and Tk. 250 crore in fines on two occasions, Citycell Tk. 150 crore, AKTEL Tk. 145 crore and Banglalink Tk. 125 crore. Private land-phone operator RanksTel was also fined Tk. 15 crore. During the army-backed caretaker government, the BTRC had conducted several drives against illegal VoIP operations. The then BTRC chairman, Maj. Gen. Manzurul Alam (Retd), took the initiative to scrutinise call lists and found evidence of the mobile phone operators involvement in the illegal VoIP business. Following the drive, Manzurul Alam told reporters that the investigations revealed that GP CEO and his team had extended their cooperation to the illegal VoIP business. GP also admitted to wrongdoing, as Anders Jensen, the then CEO of the Norwegian company, in a written press statement in August 2008, said, We deeply regret that such unlawful practice was carried out and not disclosed earlier by Grameenphone. We have cooperated with BTRC in the investigations, and the Grameenphone board also conducted an investigation by an external auditor to look into all aspects of our operations to ensure that we fully comply with all laws and regulations, Jensen added. A case (No. 46, Jan 16, 2008) was filed against GP officials by Jian Shah Kabir, the then assistant director of the Legal and Licencing Division of BTRC, with Gulshan Police Station. According to the case, a BTRC team carried out a drive in GP office on December 6, 2007, and found four E-1 connections from the operator to Access Tel network. The team later carried out investigations in the GP office till December 14, where it found evidence that senior officials of the mobile phone operator were involved in the illegal VoIP business. The then GP head of revenue assurance, Espen Wiig Warendorph, verbally asked its officials not to provide call records of a particular mobile phone number to law enforcers. The number was used by AccessTel for call termination, the investigation later found. Apart from the officials of GP, AccessTel, a local Internet service provider, and Malaysia-based international call carrier DiGi Telecommunications were also on the accused list. In the FIR, the telecoms regulatory body said these three companies and the individuals were involved in providing international call termination facility or VoIP. Banglalink is fully owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd of Malta, which is a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding. Following business combination, in april 2011, between Vimpelcom Ltd and Wind Telecom S.P.A, Vimpelcom owns 51.92 percent shares of Global Telecom Holding. Telenor ASA, the Nordic regions largest phone company, holds 33 percent stake in Vimpelcom Ltd. Telenor has 55.80 percent stakes in Grameenphone.