New VoIP licences to be issued soon

Licence for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will be issued soon to legalise the business in the country, as the telecom regulator is going to seek applications this week for the VoIP operation, a top official said.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will issue the much talked about licence under the name of “VoIP service Provider (VSP)”, he added.
“The commission is working fast to publish advertisement in media seeking applications for VoIP licence soon,” chairman of the telecom regulatory body Major Gen (retd) Zia Ahmed told the news agency yesterday.
He said they have already issued 82 gateway licenses.
Earlier, the government mulled to issue almost 3,000 VSP licence to stop the illegal VoIP business, but it changed decision against the backdrop of issuing 82 gateway licences for international call transmission.
In the current guideline, the application fee for VSP has been fixed at Taka 5,000, licence fee at Tk 5 lakh and annual licence fee at Tk 1 lakh.
Meanwhile, the telecom ministry approved the VSP draft guideline last week and asked the BTRC to gear up the process of issuing VSP licence.
Sunil Kanti Bose, telecom secretary, said they have already sent the VSP guideline to the BTRC.
The number of VSP licence would depend on the number of application, he said.