Top court asks BTCL to compensate Netas
The Supreme Court yesterday directed Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) to give $10,000 in compensation to Turkish firm Netas Telekomunikasyon.
The directive came as the Turkish firm was dropped from a contract to build undersea cable links from Kuakata to Dhaka although it participated as a nominated bidder in an auction for the contract, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star after the order.
The Appellate Division of the SC, however, upheld the BTCL's work order with Telephone Shilpa Sangstha Ltd (TSS).
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order after disposing of three petitions filed against a High Court verdict.
Following a writ petition filed by Netas Telekomunikasyon, the HC on December 12 last year declared illegal the process through which BTCL awarded the contract to TSS.
Later, BTCL, TSS and Netas Telekomunikasyon filed three separate petitions with the SC seeking different orders against the HC verdict.
The international competitive tender was floated in May last year to connect the second submarine cable -- SEA-ME-WE 5 -- with the capital. Bangladesh is scheduled to be connected with the undersea cable by February 21.
Once connected, Bangladesh will get an additional 1,400 gigabits per second of bandwidth from the new cable. Initially, the longevity of the cable has been fixed at 20 years, and it may be increased to 25 years by optimum maintenance.
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