ISPs can cut internet cost if demands met

Internet service providers placed a six-point demand to Telecom and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Thursday and said internet usage cost would reduce by at least 20 percent for end users if the demands are met.

They demanded for removal of “unnecessary burdens” to cut internet usage cost.

“It will take only a few days to reduce the cost burden for the end users after abolishing unnecessary slabs and allowing us to provide some new services,” said MA Hakim, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB).

The difference in transmission cost in Dhaka and in the rest of the country is huge and rural internet users will benefit if the government addresses this disparity, he said.

The association placed the demands while according a reception to the new minister in the city's Gulshan Club.

Operators of Nationwide Telecommu-nication Transmission Network (NTTN) charge Tk 600 to transmit one megabit in Dhaka and Tk 800 outside, the association said in the letter. Moreover, the lowest and highest price limits have not been set by the telecom regulator although it is a key determinant of internet usage cost, the letter reads.

Even when a few days of transmission is required, the internet service providers have to sign at least a 13-month contract with the NTTN operators. All these increase the operational cost of ISPs, as there is a network usage charge apart from that for transferring every megabit, they said.

Before reaching internet service providers from international sources, internet bandwidth changes hands four times, the presence of two of which are completely unnecessary, said ISPAB.

The four intermediary traders have to share revenue with the government and pay VAT and taxes, all of which creates a burden for the end users, said Hakim.

ISPAB also sought permission to share each other's network and roll out IP telephony and triple play services.

IP telephony is technologies that use the internet protocol's packet-switched connections instead of the public switched telephone network to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information.

Triple play service provided voice, video and data all in a single access subscription. No new investment is required for these services and providing customers new products through these while sharing networks will ensure extra mileage in cost reduction, the association said.

It also stated that offering quality service was a challenge for its 718 members licensed in six categories due to the presence of over 4,000 illegal entities, who are running the same business.

Right after coming to office in the first week of this month, Jabbar stated his first priority to be reducing internet usage cost and improving service quality.

Attending another reception accorded by Bangladesh Computer Samity on Friday, he said he would sit with the telecom regulator within a short time and fulfil the demands, albeit only if it comes to customers' benefit.

However, a senior official of his office said the minister plans to sit with Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy to decide on the matter.

There are 8.02 crore active internet connections as of November, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. They consume a bandwidth of 547 Gbps, of which 405 Gbps goes through internet service providers who have only 53.42 lakh subscribers.