Sagar Biswas :
Government is going to initiate a talk with the authorities of popular social media network Facebook very shortly to open an admin panel in Bangladesh with a view to tackling alarmingly rising cyber crimes.
At the same time, the government is interested to kick-off a talk with global internet search engine giant Google apparently to grip the ‘browsing and circulation’ of unwanted contents that appear harmful to society and country.
As a part of government’s plan, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim is scheduled to go to Singapore on January 10 to sit with the Facebook authority to reach a deal for setting an admin panel.
“Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign country. So everyone has to obey the law of the land. We believe that violence against women and cyber crimes will reduce significantly, if Facebook implements its policy strictly in Bangladesh,” Tarana Halim said.
Elaborating the government’s plan, the State Minister further said, “We are trying to reach a deal with Facebook and set an admin panel of [Facebook] in Bangladesh. I want to achieve the two goals in long term… I also want to see Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Dhaka.”
According to the officials of the posts and telecommunications division [PTD], the government has taken such initiatives when Facebook rejected the Bangladesh Government’s request to divulge information about 29 users [highly suspected facebook users] during the period January- June 2013 and January-June 2014.
As there exists no official agreement between Facebook or Google with the Bangladesh government, so any issues regarding these networks must be solved through an official agreement, the PTD officials said.
It is to be noted that the government imposed temporary restriction on Facebook and some other messaging and calling apps for security ground on November 22 and lifted the ban on December 10.
Meanwhile, the government is getting ready to introduce mobile number portability [MNP] system to enable cell phone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers even after changing from one network operator to another.
Official sources said the MNP guideline is now ready and the government has already asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC] to introduce MNP as early as possible.
The MNP guidelines were prepared in due time, but the Telecommunication Ministry had to wait to secure clearance from the finance ministry for fixing issues of tariff and revenue sharing. After final approval, the BTRC will float an international tender to appoint a MNP operator to provide the service, the officials added.
The guideline says, the BTRC will issue a MNP license for 15 years at Tk 20 lakh as annual license fee and the MNP operator has to share revenue with the government at 5.5 percent rate from the second year of the license.
Apart from MNP, the government has taken initiatives to introduce a high-performance business model to Teletalk to turn it into a profitable organisation.
To accomplish the plan, Tarana has also planned to visit Microsoft and some other telecommunications companies during her stay in Singapore and Malaysia for around two weeks.
During her visit, she will hold talks with telecommunications and ICT ministers of the two countries and seek advice from them in this regard. Telekom Malaysia is one of the leading mobile operators in Malaysia.
“We are looking forward to introduce an appropriate model to Teletalk to emerge as a leading market player in the country’s mobile industry. And so, we will provide a business model for Teletalk so that it operates perfectly,” Tarana told the media.
The Teletalk failed to make any profit as yet since its inception in 2005. In this backdrop, the annoyed state minister recently expressed her dissatisfaction in the Parliament over the Teletalk’s Tk 399 crore loss.
Government is going to initiate a talk with the authorities of popular social media network Facebook very shortly to open an admin panel in Bangladesh with a view to tackling alarmingly rising cyber crimes.
At the same time, the government is interested to kick-off a talk with global internet search engine giant Google apparently to grip the ‘browsing and circulation’ of unwanted contents that appear harmful to society and country.
As a part of government’s plan, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim is scheduled to go to Singapore on January 10 to sit with the Facebook authority to reach a deal for setting an admin panel.
“Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign country. So everyone has to obey the law of the land. We believe that violence against women and cyber crimes will reduce significantly, if Facebook implements its policy strictly in Bangladesh,” Tarana Halim said.
Elaborating the government’s plan, the State Minister further said, “We are trying to reach a deal with Facebook and set an admin panel of [Facebook] in Bangladesh. I want to achieve the two goals in long term… I also want to see Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Dhaka.”
According to the officials of the posts and telecommunications division [PTD], the government has taken such initiatives when Facebook rejected the Bangladesh Government’s request to divulge information about 29 users [highly suspected facebook users] during the period January- June 2013 and January-June 2014.
As there exists no official agreement between Facebook or Google with the Bangladesh government, so any issues regarding these networks must be solved through an official agreement, the PTD officials said.
It is to be noted that the government imposed temporary restriction on Facebook and some other messaging and calling apps for security ground on November 22 and lifted the ban on December 10.
Meanwhile, the government is getting ready to introduce mobile number portability [MNP] system to enable cell phone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers even after changing from one network operator to another.
Official sources said the MNP guideline is now ready and the government has already asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC] to introduce MNP as early as possible.
The MNP guidelines were prepared in due time, but the Telecommunication Ministry had to wait to secure clearance from the finance ministry for fixing issues of tariff and revenue sharing. After final approval, the BTRC will float an international tender to appoint a MNP operator to provide the service, the officials added.
The guideline says, the BTRC will issue a MNP license for 15 years at Tk 20 lakh as annual license fee and the MNP operator has to share revenue with the government at 5.5 percent rate from the second year of the license.
Apart from MNP, the government has taken initiatives to introduce a high-performance business model to Teletalk to turn it into a profitable organisation.
To accomplish the plan, Tarana has also planned to visit Microsoft and some other telecommunications companies during her stay in Singapore and Malaysia for around two weeks.
During her visit, she will hold talks with telecommunications and ICT ministers of the two countries and seek advice from them in this regard. Telekom Malaysia is one of the leading mobile operators in Malaysia.
“We are looking forward to introduce an appropriate model to Teletalk to emerge as a leading market player in the country’s mobile industry. And so, we will provide a business model for Teletalk so that it operates perfectly,” Tarana told the media.
The Teletalk failed to make any profit as yet since its inception in 2005. In this backdrop, the annoyed state minister recently expressed her dissatisfaction in the Parliament over the Teletalk’s Tk 399 crore loss.
