Database of internet service providers on cards

The government has taken an initiative to form a database of internet service providers as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure cyber security, said officials.

They said the move also aimed at making available the benefit of the reduced price of bandwidth as well as real broadband internet to the end users.

Talking to the news agency, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim said the process of formation of the database was now underway.

Meanwhile, the officials of posts and telecommunications division informed that few big internet service providers had already submitted the lists of their sub-agents.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has issued licences to 434 internet service providers (ISPs) in six categories. It handed over nationwide licences to 126 ISPs while 62 licences for central zone, 17 zonal (south and east) licences as well as ISP along with cyber cafe, licences to 175 operators under A category, and 29 under B and 24 under C categories.

Officials said apart from the authorised ISPs, a huge number of unauthorised ISPs based on the small areas in the capital and other parts of the country were offering internet services by collecting bandwidth from the licence holders. But, miscreants carry out different cyber crimes using the internet line from the unauthorised ISPs as well as cyber cafes.

On the other hand, they are also deceiving the end users financially by providing slow connection through shared lines.

Currently, the internet gateways are paying Tk 625 instead of Tk 1,068 for 1 mbps bandwidth for 10 gbps slab.

Officials informed in January, 2009 bandwidth price was trimmed to Tk 18,000 from Tk 27,000. Later, it was re-fixed Tk 10,000 for per mbps bandwidth from Tk 18,000. It was Tk 127,000 until 2006.

Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh General Secretary Emdadul Hoque, however, is skepticism “whether the database is leaked to rival business entities or miscreants.”

He said the end users were not getting the actual benefit of the reduced price of bandwidth due to the high transmission charge imposed by the Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network companies.

High charge of NTTN companies is being forced on the ISPs to collect extra money from the end users, said Hoque, adding, “The small ISPs will disappear in future due to the impractical business of NTTN.”

The ISPAB general secretary urged the government to issue more NTTN licences to break the monopoly.