Telcos demand adjustment in tax structure

Mobile phone operators yesterday urged to the concern authorities for reviewing the tax policy for mobile industry and said the existing policy make them non-profitable.

They came up with the demand during a panel discussion on Investment, Policy, Regulatory Framework to realize Mobile Broadband in Achieving Digital Bangladesh at Bangladesh LTE Summit 2016 at Hotel Sonargaon yesterday.
Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) jointly organised the summit.
AMTOB secretary general TIM Nurul Kabir moderated the discussion while Robi Axiata Ltd CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Grameenphone Ltd CEO Petter-B Furberg, Access to Information of PMO Mohammed Asraful Amin, Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd CCAO Taimur Rahman, Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd Targhibul Islam spoke on the occasion.     
Robi Axiata CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said the mobile operators played significant roles in country’s GDP growth by paying highest tax.
“After 17 years operation Robi is still not profitable and I think other operators are not in good shape too,” he said.
He said they provide lowest cost services but pay more than 50 per cent of the cost in terms of tax. “It’s a peak time to work collectively with BTRC, Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue and Finance Division to adjust tax for making the telecom industry more vibrant,” the first ever Bangladeshi born CEO in telecom sector said.     
He said the government’s goal to digitize the country would not be complete without addressing the issue. He informed that around 21 per cent additional duty has been imposed on import of mobile device. “It’s a barrier for mobile penetration,” he said.   
“We have to compromise on mid and long terms game for short term goal,” he said. 
The country’s telecom sector provides better services when compared to that of Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and even India, the Robi CEO claimed.
Petter-B Furberg, chief executive officer of Grameenphone Ltd, pointed out four barriers for better cell-phone services including networking, hefty taxes of handsets, pricing of internet and services.
Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd CCAO Taimur Rahman, at the discussion raised the issue of operator’s ability to introduce 4G neutrality.
He requested the regulator for ensuring active sharing with operators for ensuring level playing field in the sector.
Talking at the discussion BTRC Director General of System Services Imdadul Bari said the data cost must be reduced to digitize Bangladesh. “We have reduced the wholesale data cost drastically but the retail cost is yet to be reduced,” he said.
The regulator would reduce data cost and provide incentive to operators through taxation policy, he assured operators.  Data consumption is increased by 50 per cent but data penetration is only 5 per cent so far, he informed.
At the discussion Johan Frisell, ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, said rapid growth of telecommunication in Bangladesh is praiseworthy. Now it’s time to roll out LTE services.
“If you charge too much, you may get short term benefit, but ultimately it would bring negative impact in the industry. We should make the LTE process quick,” said Frisell.

Telcos demand adjustment in tax structure

Mobile phone operators yesterday urged to the concern authorities for reviewing the tax policy for mobile industry and said the existing policy make them non-profitable. They came up with the demand during a panel discussion on Investment, Policy, Regulatory Framework to realize Mobile Broadband in Achieving Digital Bangladesh at Bangladesh LTE Summit 2016 at Hotel Sonargaon yesterday. Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) jointly organised the summit. AMTOB secretary general TIM Nurul Kabir moderated the discussion while Robi Axiata Ltd CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Grameenphone Ltd CEO Petter-B Furberg, Access to Information of PMO Mohammed Asraful Amin, Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd CCAO Taimur Rahman, Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd Targhibul Islam spoke on the occasion. Robi Axiata CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said the mobile operators played significant roles in countrys GDP growth by paying highest tax. After 17 years operation Robi is still not profitable and I think other operators are not in good shape too, he said. He said they provide lowest cost services but pay more than 50 per cent of the cost in terms of tax. Its a peak time to work collectively with BTRC, Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue and Finance Division to adjust tax for making the telecom industry more vibrant, the first ever Bangladeshi born CEO in telecom sector said. He said the governments goal to digitize the country would not be complete without addressing the issue. He informed that around 21 per cent additional duty has been imposed on import of mobile device. Its a barrier for mobile penetration, he said. We have to compromise on mid and long terms game for short term goal, he said. The countrys telecom sector provides better services when compared to that of Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and even India, the Robi CEO claimed. Petter-B Furberg, chief executive officer of Grameenphone Ltd, pointed out four barriers for better cell-phone services including networking, hefty taxes of handsets, pricing of internet and services. Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd CCAO Taimur Rahman, at the discussion raised the issue of operators ability to introduce 4G neutrality. He requested the regulator for ensuring active sharing with operators for ensuring level playing field in the sector. Talking at the discussion BTRC Director General of System Services Imdadul Bari said the data cost must be reduced to digitize Bangladesh. We have reduced the wholesale data cost drastically but the retail cost is yet to be reduced, he said. The regulator would reduce data cost and provide incentive to operators through taxation policy, he assured operators. Data consumption is increased by 50 per cent but data penetration is only 5 per cent so far, he informed. At the discussion Johan Frisell, ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, said rapid growth of telecommunication in Bangladesh is praiseworthy. Now its time to roll out LTE services. If you charge too much, you may get short term benefit, but ultimately it would bring negative impact in the industry. We should make the LTE process quick, said Frisell.