Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Sunday said, there is no scope for arbitration under the existing law regarding its action taken against the two major telecom operators.
The BTRC on July 4 reduced Grameen Phone’s internal internet
bandwidth to 30 percent and Robi’s bandwidth to 15 percent, as the two companies failed to pay government dues.
As aresult, it will affect ultimately the 12.25 crore subscribers of the two operators.
According to the BTRC’s audit claim, Grameenphone will have to pay Tk 12,579.95 crore and Robi Tk 867.24 crore to the government.
In a press briefing, Grameen Phone expressed its interest in favour of arbitration and therefore proposed for an amendment in the telecommunication law.
In reply, BTRC Chaiman Md Jahurul Haque said, they are not thinking of any scope of any arbitration.
Rather, after monitoring customers’ suffering, they will decide the next course of action in its next meeting, Haque said.
Terming the blocking of bandwidth “inappropriate and illegal”, the market leader telecom operator said, the Regulator’s directive adds burden to the customers and local business communities with investors and International Internet Gateway (IIG) operators.
At a press conference in Dhaka, Grameenphone authorities urged the BTRC to withdraw the directives and cooperate in resolving the “disputed” audit demand issue through a constructive arbitration process under the Arbitration Act 2001.
Grameenphone had served a Notice of Arbitration on the BTRC inviting the regulator to a constructive arbitration process to resolve the disputed audit claim. BTRC has remained silent, GP said.
The directive issued by the BTRC is not addressed to Grameenphone but the telecom regulator has publicly stated that the bandwidth capacity will remain blocked until Grameenphone pay a “disputed audit demand”, GP said.
The BTRC directive is therefore specially designed to put pressure on the operator by negatively impacting customer experience on the operator’s network, said Michael Foley, Chief Executive Officer of Grameenphone.
He said that this directive would also have a negative consequence for local business communities and for the affected IIGs as they would lose potential revenue and business opportunities for a situation totally outside their control.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Sunday said, there is no scope for arbitration under the existing law regarding its action taken against the two major telecom operators.
The BTRC on July 4 reduced Grameen Phone’s internal internet
bandwidth to 30 percent and Robi’s bandwidth to 15 percent, as the two companies failed to pay government dues.
As aresult, it will affect ultimately the 12.25 crore subscribers of the two operators.
According to the BTRC’s audit claim, Grameenphone will have to pay Tk 12,579.95 crore and Robi Tk 867.24 crore to the government.
In a press briefing, Grameen Phone expressed its interest in favour of arbitration and therefore proposed for an amendment in the telecommunication law.
In reply, BTRC Chaiman Md Jahurul Haque said, they are not thinking of any scope of any arbitration.
Rather, after monitoring customers’ suffering, they will decide the next course of action in its next meeting, Haque said.
Terming the blocking of bandwidth “inappropriate and illegal”, the market leader telecom operator said, the Regulator’s directive adds burden to the customers and local business communities with investors and International Internet Gateway (IIG) operators.
At a press conference in Dhaka, Grameenphone authorities urged the BTRC to withdraw the directives and cooperate in resolving the “disputed” audit demand issue through a constructive arbitration process under the Arbitration Act 2001.
Grameenphone had served a Notice of Arbitration on the BTRC inviting the regulator to a constructive arbitration process to resolve the disputed audit claim. BTRC has remained silent, GP said.
The directive issued by the BTRC is not addressed to Grameenphone but the telecom regulator has publicly stated that the bandwidth capacity will remain blocked until Grameenphone pay a “disputed audit demand”, GP said.
The BTRC directive is therefore specially designed to put pressure on the operator by negatively impacting customer experience on the operator’s network, said Michael Foley, Chief Executive Officer of Grameenphone.
He said that this directive would also have a negative consequence for local business communities and for the affected IIGs as they would lose potential revenue and business opportunities for a situation totally outside their control.
