Legal overseas calls decline as fees jump
Legal overseas calls fell in the immediate aftermath of a hike in termination fees, as voice minutes declined 9.32 percent week-on-week.
A forum of gateway operators on August 24 increased incoming call termination fees by 33.33 percent, making it 2 cents per minute from 1.5 cents.
Some 662 million-minute calls were terminated through the legal channels in the week since the price hike became effective. The number was 730 million-minutes in the seven days preceding the hike, according to the telecom regulatory commission. Call termination refers to the routing of telephone calls from one telecom company to another.
The total loss in revenue from the 68 million-minute shortfall in legal calls stands at about $1 million, of which the government would have received about $40,000.
Although termination charge went up, the shares of the proceeds by the government and other two stakeholders would be counted as per the older rate of 1.50 cents.
The regulator is entitled to 40 percent of the 1.50 cents charge, mobile phone operators get 22.5 percent, IGWs 20 percent and interconnection exchanges 17.5 percent.
Currently, some 92 million-minute calls are being terminated a day, compared to 102 million before the price hike.
State Minister Tarana Halim, spurred by the loss in government revenue, met regulatory and other officials to discuss the issue and later called some IGW owners to suggest that they reduce the termination fee.
BTRC is taking steps against illegal call termination, including frequent raids, but the fall in minutes is quite natural after a rise in termination rate, a senior official of the regulator said. The Gateway Operators Forum or IOF is also planning to declare rewards for informing on illegal call traders, according to the official. A 'zero tolerance' policy has been started against illegal termination and legal calls will go back to normal shortly, said officials of IOF.
“We have started a joint initiative with the regulator and law enforcement agencies against illegal call termination,” said Khandakar Muzharul Haque, deputy chief executive officer of the IOF.
There is also a special fund to boost efforts against illegal termination and more steps will follow shortly, he added.
There has been a sudden spike in local calls of Teletalk since after the hike in termination fees, officials of top three private mobile operators said.
Some 23 IGW operators are currently active in the international call termination market, and six remain closed for not paying the regulator's dues.
The government halved international incoming call termination rate to 1.5 cents last September, but it approved a cartel -- the IOF – to form in the incoming call termination market, with just seven cartel members terminating all legal international calls.
Other IGWs can only bring calls from international carriers to those seven, who can then terminate them.
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