GrameenPhone Fined Tk 250 crore: BTRC

GrameenPhone Fined Tk 250 crore: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)


Fri, Aug 15th, 2008 1:42 am BdST


Dhaka, Aug 14 (bdnews24.com) -- BTRC has fined Grameenphone Tk 250 crore for illegal VoIP business, the second time the country's largest mobile phone operator has been penalised for such rogue activities, the telecoms regulators announced Thursday.

GP's directer of information Syed Yamin Bakht told bdnews24.com that the company had received notice of the fine and had already made a payment.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said the Tk 250 crore financial penalty came as GP provided E1 connectivity to third parties enabling the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

BTRC launched a full investigation and confirmed the company's illegal VoIP connectivities after suspicions arose in January this year, the statement said.

In 2007, GP paid a fine of Tk 168.40 crore for similar offences.

BTRC said it hoped telecommunication operators would refrain from facilitating illegal VoIP ventures, directly or indirectly.

"The operators are expected to cooperate with the government to prevent such activities in the future," the statement quoted BTRC chief Manzurul Alam as saying.

The BTRC chairman added that no-one will be spared if found involved in any capacity in the illegal call termination business.

"We deeply regret that such unlawful practices were carried out and not disclosed earlier by Grameenphone," Anders Jensen, chief executive of Grameenphone, said in a statement.

"We have cooperated with BTRC in the investigations and the Grameenphone Board also mandated 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," he said.

BTRC also fined Telecom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) Limited (TMIB), which operates under the brandname AKTEL, Tk 5 crore for being involved in unethical subscriber re-registration with counterfeit forms.

The same company paid a fine of Tk 145 crore for other VoIP related offences in 2007.

The regulators found some AKTEL contractors involved in counterfeit subscriber re-registration forms of the company in a manner not authorised by law.

"TMIB lacked sufficient control mechanisms to restrict the misuse of the process by such contractors which resulted in violation of BTRC prescribed directives," BTRC said in a statement.


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