BTRC cancels licences of four ISPs

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) recently cancelled the licences of four interest service providers (ISPs) for failing to convert their licences in accordance with relevant guidelines.

As such, the ISPs have been directed to surrender their licences within the first 10 days of October, according to documents of the telecom regulator.

The ISPs are Nabila Net, Pent, Paralekha Online and Airnet Communications.

According to the regulatory and licencing guidelines for ISPs published in December 2020, the existing ISP licencees had to convert their licences to four new categories by December 2021.

For their failure to comply, the BTRC declared all activities of these ISPs illegal and punishable under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001.

It also warned all concerned not to enter any deal or engage in financial transactions with these ISPs.

Earlier, the telecom regulator cancelled hundreds of ISP licences for different reasons.

In August, the BTRC cancelled the licences of 14 ISPs after they failed to renew their licences within the specified time.

In May, the BTRC cancelled the licences of 228 ISPs after they failed to convert their licences in accordance with guidelines.

In July 2022, the telecom regulator directed international internet gateway service providers to disconnect the bandwidth connections of 286 ISPs after they failed to convert their licences in accordance with guidelines.

More recently, the BTRC revoked the licences of four internet protocol telephony service providers (IPTSPs) after they lost their ISP licence.

According to BTRC rules, an IPTSP cannot provide services without having an ISP licence.

An IPTSP licensee provides international and domestic voice calls over IP-based internet and/or managed IP-based network(s).