When development of indigenous capability in the telecom sector had been the avowed objective of the Telecom Act and accordingly local initiative was allowed to flourish with generous licensing and supportive facilities, it became a shiny sheen to the growth of an expanding, cutting-edge sector. But then came a shock as five locally owned PSTN (Public switched telephone network) operators like Dhaka Phone, National Telecom, People's Tel, RanksTel and WorldTel were delicensed by BTRC in May this year.
They were alleged to have been involved in illegal call termination business. The punitive measure, clearly uncalibrated, would have perhaps been justified, if in the sequel to the shutdown, incidence of illegal call termination were to come down. Expert analysts, therefore, tend to look at the move as making a scapegoat of the local operators who but constitute one percent of the total national telecom network. The level at which international call traffic bypassed the legal gateways is too high to be the handiwork of local PSTN operators.
The problem needs to be tackled technologically rather than by any arbitrary and over-reactive administrative measure. Let's not forget, altogether 11 national and regional operators invested more than Tk 2,000 crore, imported sophisticated equipment and installed them to employ a few thousand qualified engineers, technicians, other professionals, aside from an array of dealers and distributors. They have been serving more than six lakh subscribers including banks, multinational companies, hospitals, transport companies, embassies, international bodies, SMEs and PCOs.
The five shutdown companies have outstanding debts with individual banks and syndicated lenders who had themselves come forward induced by a positive policy of the government in the sector. For months they have been dipped in uncertainty.
Against this backdrop, we endorse the call of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications made to the government to reopen the closed down PSTN companies immediately. In addition, new licenses should be provided to more of private operators under an overall consolidation process taking care of an industry that has been 'highly fragmented with too many operators having narrow functionalities'. The cloud of uncertainties over the sector must be cast away with new vigour injected into it.