New guidelines boost web access and Bangladeshi websites

The government of Bangladesh will issue fresh licenses ofinternational gateway (IGW) andinternational connection exchange (ICX) to break the monopoly business existing in the sector.

"We will change the policy formulated by the past caretaker government within next month and issue new licenses of IGW and ICX," Post and Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Ahmed Razu told the House in reply to a supplementary raised by treasury bench member Tanveer Shakil Joy. Responding to another question, the telecom minister said the present government has undertaken steps to launch a communication satellite very soon to modernize the telecommunications system to build Digital Bangladesh by 2021.

"Launching a communication satellite is a long-cherished dream and the efforts for procuring money to this end are going on," he said.

The minister also said that the discussion on launching the country's own communication satellite with different countries including the USA and China is also going on as Bangladesh wants to launch it as soon as possible. Answering to written questions raised by ruling party lawmakers Apu Ukil and Meher Afroz, Razu said there are six mobile phone operators in the country and their subscribers till November, 2009, stood at 5,05,50,000.

Of the six mobile phone vendors, he said,Grammenphone has now 2.23 crore subscribers,Banglalink 1.3 crore, AKTEL 89 lakh, Warid 29 lakh,Citycell 20 lakh and Teletalk 11 lakh.

Besides, he said, the number of subscribers of state-runBangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL)till November, 2009, was 9,52,779. The telecom minister also informed the House that the government has realized Taka 5,692.50 crore as revenue from the six mobile phone companies in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Of the amount, he said, the highest Taka 1,051.10 crore was realized from Grammenphone, Taka 784.10 crore from Banglalink, Taka 191.50 crore from Citycell, Taka 126 crore from Warid and Taka 48.20 crore from Teltalk.Razu also said that the government has taken up various steps to raise the number of subscribers and income of the BTCL.

The measures, he said, include setting up of a 1.71 lakh-line digital exchange with NGN facility in the old part of Dhaka city at a cost of Taka 197 crore and installation of modern internet equipment at different telephone exchanges in Dhaka city at a cost of Taka 623 crore.

Responding to another question raised by treasury bench member Mohammad Jashim Uddin, the minister said the government has taken ups steps to reform the Postal Department. The reform works have already started, he said.

The steps, he said, include amendment to the Post Office Act,1898, introduction of standard carton for parcel and EMS, providing passport service and building rural post offices as e- centres.