Robi ordered to sever ties with Bangla Phone
The telecom regulator yesterday warned Robi of tougher actions if the mobile operator does not stop using the unauthorised fibre optic connection of Bangla Phone Ltd in the next 30 days.
Bangla Phone, a telecommunications company, never had a licence for establishing such connectivity, said top officials of the legal and licensing wing at Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
“It only received the permission to do business in the sector on a temporary basis which expired three years ago. But Robi kept taking service from Bangla Phone even after several warnings from the regulator.”
“We have earlier served show cause notice on both…but they ignored it,” Md Jahurul Haque, acting chairman of BTRC, told The Daily Star, after chairing a monthly meeting in its Dhaka office.
“They have not even contacted us.”
“If they dishonour this order, we will act according to the law, which has empowered us to impose fines of up to Tk 100 crore,” said Haque, who is also the telecom regulator's legal commissioner.
BTRC issued the show cause notices on April 24 and gave seven days' time to reply.
Earlier, state-owned Teletalk cancelled a deal with Bangla Phone over using its fibre-optic network after receiving such a warning from the telecom watchdog.
“We have already responded to the letter sent by the commission regarding Bangla Phone Ltd,” said Ekram Kabir, vice president for corporate communications and corporate responsibility at Robi.
“We would like to reiterate that a lawsuit is in the process in the court of law and it is only the honourable court who can provide any kind of direction on the subject.”
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