"We talked to four cellphone operators except Warid Telecom and state-run Teletalk.....we also talked with Securities and Exchange Commission about bringing the operators to the capital market, and we want to see them listed within the next six months," Alam told reporters.

All these operators have agreed in principle to offload shares in the stock market, while Warid Telecom, the newcomer to the 24.6-million-strong domestic mobile phone market, said it would require more time to float IPOs (initial public offerings), chairman of the telecoms watchdog said.

He was talking to the reporters on the sidelines of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day celebration in Dhaka. The theme of the day this year is 'Connecting the Young: The Opportunities of ICT'.

"A few sections will try to delay the process but we want to do it immediately as the interest of the country is involved with it", said Alam who took the charge of BTRC in April.

He said leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone Ltd has wanted three years to offload shares but BTRC told the operator that it would not allow this.

The government is contemplating some changes in the terms and conditions of the licensing process of BTRC meant for cellphone operators in a bid to compel them to come to the capital market. "Licence is not any unchangeable document and the provision of changing any clause is mentioned in the licences", he said.

He also said the committee formed to formulate the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) policies would submit its proposals to the government within this month. Making available the VoIP facilities is a matter of time, he said, adding that the BTRC will take decisions regarding VoIP issues in line with the policy paper.

About the alleged involvement of some mobile phone operators in illegal VoIP business, he said 16 cases have been filed so far in this regard.

"Although there is no provision of cancelling licences of mobile phone operators if they are found guilty of illegal VoIP business, we want to impose heavy penalty on the wrongdoers," he added.

Post and Telecommunications Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam, who spoke at the function as chief guest, said although resources of the country are limited, the government allocates a handsome amount for telecoms sector.

The country's tele-density rate is now 16 percent and this is far more than the target to be achieved by 2010, the adviser said.

Shaikh Khurshid Alam, secretary to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, and Anwarul Azim, chairman of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, among others, spoke at the function.