BTRC cancels GP-Sonali deal

POST TIME: 24 June, 2016 00:00 00 AM / LAST MODIFIED: 24 June, 2016 01:01:50 AM

Go Broadband services

‘Deal illegal as operator violated rules’

TAREQUE MORETAZA

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has decided to cancel the contract between the largest mobile operator Grameenphone (GP) and state owned bank Sonali Bank Ltd. Under the contract, GP has been providing Sonali Bank with the Go Broadband services which according to BTRC, is illegal. In a meeting held on June 22, BTRC came up with the observation that GP was giving internet and telecommunication service to Sonali Bank through fixed connection through fiber optics cable violating its license contract with the BTRC, and the rules and regulation of the Telecommunication Act. The telecom regulator will also issue show cause notice to GP within the next one week. GP will be given 30 days for reply, informed the BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmud. The BTRC official informed The Independent that Grameenphone (GP) has violated telecom rules by running ‘Go Broadband’ services for long
Grameenphone, in alliance with ADN Telecom and Agni Systems, offers ‘Go Broadband’ services that provide fibre-optic connections ‘by violating BTRC’s Wi-Max policy guidelines’, the telecoms watchdog said. After a series of scrutiny over the GP explanations regarding the services, the Engineering and Operations Department of the BTRC came up with the observation last week. In a note, the BTRC’s Engineering and Operations Department has also recommended that GP should be slapped with a monetary fine for this ‘severe violation’ of the articles 4.7 and 4.8 of the BTRC guidelines on telecom infrastructures. “The operator cannot share or lease its infrastructure without permission from the regulator. Grameenphone, as a mobile phone operator, cannot provide wire-connectivity. The operator is also providing fibre connectivity, which can only be done by NTTN operators,” a BTRC senior official told The Independent while explaining the nature of the violations by mobile operator Grameenphone.
“It is providing wire technology connectivity to 551 branches of Sonali Bank without obtaining permission from the BTRC. It is also providing modem services what wi-max service providers Qubee and Banglalion do despite obtaining no Wi-Max licence,” he continued. In the latest, GP has clinched a deal with Sonali Bank, the country’s largest state-owned commercial bank, to provide them with the Go Broadband services. The BTRC, in its observation, said that by providing services to 551 branches without involving any NTTN operator and by concealing the information to the BTRC, GP has done a severe blunder of violation of rules. It has been doing the ISP business without obtaining any license for doing this business, BTRC observes. When asked, Brig Gen Iqbal Ahmed, BTRC director general, told The Independent that they sought the operator’s explanations regarding their findings. “Necessary steps will be taken after getting their reply,” Ahmed added. After receiving a complaint, the BTRC, in a letter issued on March 30, pointed out six allegations of irregularities and asked Grameenphone, ADN Telecom and Agni Systems to present their explanations by April 13. Earlier, on February 28, Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh (ISPAB) submitted the complaint against Grameenphone and its two partners. When contacted, Sayed Talat Kamal, head of External Communications of GP, said, “Agni Systems Ltd and ADN Telecom Ltd, in partnership with Grameenphone, have been offering Go Broadband services with specific approval from the regulator.”

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