Regulator scraps two IGW licences

The telecom regulator has cancelled the licences of two international gateways, which were blocked more than a year ago for their failure to share the stipulated revenue with the government and pay licence fees. 

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission took the decision yesterday upon getting a go-ahead from the Post and Telecommunication Division, BTRC spokesman Md Sarwar Alam said.

Ratul Telecom and Kay Telecommuni-cations -- mostly owned by two politically influential families -- owe the government Tk 89.29 crore and Tk 78.27 crore in revenue-sharing amounts. 

Also, Ratul Telecom had not paid licence fees for two years and Kay for one year. 

IGW operators handle international incoming and outgoing calls.

Syeda Amrin Rakhi, daughter of Awami League's Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak, owns a 50 percent stake in Ratul Telecom, and Nanak's wife Syeda Arzumand Banu 20 percent.

Ratul Telecom, which started operation in October 2012, had remained blocked since mid-2013. 

Ruling party lawmaker Shamim Osman's wife Salma Osman and his son Imtinan Osman owned a significant portion of shares in Kay. 

However, after the activities of the operator were suspended last year, the entire share of the company was transferred to three people -- Md Shakawat Hossain, Debabrata Chowdhury and Md Rakibul Islam -- whom the regulator could not trace.

Before taking the decision to cancel their licences, the BTRC had filed two separate cases against them -- one to recover the revenue and the other for violating the licensing guideline -- but to no avail.

The Daily Star called Nanak and Shamim Osman on their mobile phones several times, but neither of them could be reached for comment.

There are four other IGW operators that have been blocked for the same reasons. 

They are Telex, Vision Tel, SM Communication and Bestec Telecom. The regulator is awaiting a response from the government to take a decision on them.

Except these six companies, there are 23 IGWs currently in business.

Grameenphone also filed cases against eight IGWs, including Ratul Telecom and Kay, as the gateways failed to pay their outstanding amounts to the mobile operator.