Regulator blocks 4 IGW operators

The telecom regulator blocked four more international gateway (IGW) operators yesterday as they owe around
Tk 150 crore to the regulator for the July-September period, an official said.
The four IGWs are Mos5 Tel Ltd, First Communications Ltd, SM Communication and Cel Telecom Ltd.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) sent letters to the six mobile operators yesterday afternoon to suspend traffic through these gateways.
IGWs provide an interface to send and receive calls between a domestic network and those in another
country.
Earlier in September, BTRC blocked six IGWs having an outstanding amount of around Tk 600 crore. Bangladesh has 29 IGW operators.
The regulator also advised the telecom ministry to cancel the licences of two IGWs Telex Ltd and VisionTel.
However, Telex Ltd filed a case against the regulator on Sunday at a time when the government is preparing to cancel its licence.
Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of BTRC, said Telex filed a case against the regulator even before its licence was cancelled.
The company filed the case as it could not pay dues to the regulator as the IGW did not receive payments from its international call contractors, said an official of BTRC.
According to guidelines, IGWs import international calls at $.03 a minute and they share 51.75 percent of it with the regulator, while a portion is shared with the mobile operators and interconnection exchanges.
Earlier, the government awarded 25 IGW licences
in 2012.