Anisul Islam Noor :
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s revenue collection from internet calls decreased by 10.79 per cent or Tk 3,754.64 crore in fiscal year 2016-17 due to fall in earnings under its revenue sharing policy with mobile and international gateway operators.
The earnings from international calls also dropped by a few hundred crore taka as illegal VOIP calling raised, a source close to regulatory commission said.
Under the policy, BTRC collected Tk 2,455.08 crore in the just concluded fiscal year whereas it was Tk 3,361.45 crore the year before, according to its annual report.
In fiscal 2015-16, the BTRC’s revenue slumped to Tk 4,207.94 crore, although it had targeted to collect Tk 6,700 crore.
In 2014-15, the government had given it a target of Tk 13,660 crore keeping a spectrum auction target in mind. But the BTRC managed to collect only Tk 4,219.19 crore being unable to arrange the auction.
The highest amount of revenue the regulator ever collected was Tk 10,085.35 crore in the fiscal 2013-14, thanks to a 3G spectrum auction and 2G licence renewal fees.
A senior BTRC’s official told the reporters that the regulator expects to set another record in collection in 2017-18 as the government is going to award 4G licences and will arrange a spectrum auction within a few months.
The telecom regulator’s main chunk of annual collection comes from the revenue sharing policy. Mobile operators share 5.5 per cent of their gross revenue with the BTRC, while international gateway operators 40 per cent of what they earn from international calls.
The official said there are a number of reasons behind the decreasing of revenue from international calls. One is a cartel of international gateway operators formed a couple of years ago, he added.
Though the government has set a price for calls coming into the country, the cartel tends to fix higher prices for profits, leading to international callers shifting to illegal channels and mobile applications, he added.
The BTRC also collects annual charges from different service providers such as that for spectrum of mobile operators and downlink of television channels along with licence and late fees and fines.
Licence fee collections also declined by about Tk 120 crore from Tk 156.51 crore in 2016-17, according to the regulator.
However, spectrum charges got a boost, increasing to Tk 901.20 crore from Tk 412 crore in the previous fiscal year.
The BTRC spent Tk 62.64 crore from the collections for administrative purposes and gave the rest to the exchequer.
Apart from the collections, the telecom regulator has a huge amount of outstanding dues which it is finding hard to collect as the debtors are either government-run or politically-backed, said an official at BTRC’s Finance Division.
About Tk 1,100 crore is outstanding with different international gateway operators, the official said.
Though the state-run mobile operator Teletalk is providing 3G services, it is yet to obtain a licence as it paid only Tk 60 crore of the Tk 1,627 crore licence and spectrum fee. Besides, it has a huge amount of 3G spectrum charges due.
Another state-owned telecom company, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, owes BTRC Tk 1,600 crore, added the official. Around Tk 100 crore is due from private landphone operators, most of which went out of service in the last couple of years.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s revenue collection from internet calls decreased by 10.79 per cent or Tk 3,754.64 crore in fiscal year 2016-17 due to fall in earnings under its revenue sharing policy with mobile and international gateway operators.
The earnings from international calls also dropped by a few hundred crore taka as illegal VOIP calling raised, a source close to regulatory commission said.
Under the policy, BTRC collected Tk 2,455.08 crore in the just concluded fiscal year whereas it was Tk 3,361.45 crore the year before, according to its annual report.
In fiscal 2015-16, the BTRC’s revenue slumped to Tk 4,207.94 crore, although it had targeted to collect Tk 6,700 crore.
In 2014-15, the government had given it a target of Tk 13,660 crore keeping a spectrum auction target in mind. But the BTRC managed to collect only Tk 4,219.19 crore being unable to arrange the auction.
The highest amount of revenue the regulator ever collected was Tk 10,085.35 crore in the fiscal 2013-14, thanks to a 3G spectrum auction and 2G licence renewal fees.
A senior BTRC’s official told the reporters that the regulator expects to set another record in collection in 2017-18 as the government is going to award 4G licences and will arrange a spectrum auction within a few months.
The telecom regulator’s main chunk of annual collection comes from the revenue sharing policy. Mobile operators share 5.5 per cent of their gross revenue with the BTRC, while international gateway operators 40 per cent of what they earn from international calls.
The official said there are a number of reasons behind the decreasing of revenue from international calls. One is a cartel of international gateway operators formed a couple of years ago, he added.
Though the government has set a price for calls coming into the country, the cartel tends to fix higher prices for profits, leading to international callers shifting to illegal channels and mobile applications, he added.
The BTRC also collects annual charges from different service providers such as that for spectrum of mobile operators and downlink of television channels along with licence and late fees and fines.
Licence fee collections also declined by about Tk 120 crore from Tk 156.51 crore in 2016-17, according to the regulator.
However, spectrum charges got a boost, increasing to Tk 901.20 crore from Tk 412 crore in the previous fiscal year.
The BTRC spent Tk 62.64 crore from the collections for administrative purposes and gave the rest to the exchequer.
Apart from the collections, the telecom regulator has a huge amount of outstanding dues which it is finding hard to collect as the debtors are either government-run or politically-backed, said an official at BTRC’s Finance Division.
About Tk 1,100 crore is outstanding with different international gateway operators, the official said.
Though the state-run mobile operator Teletalk is providing 3G services, it is yet to obtain a licence as it paid only Tk 60 crore of the Tk 1,627 crore licence and spectrum fee. Besides, it has a huge amount of 3G spectrum charges due.
Another state-owned telecom company, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, owes BTRC Tk 1,600 crore, added the official. Around Tk 100 crore is due from private landphone operators, most of which went out of service in the last couple of years.
