Bangladesh : Still Expensive

Believe it or not, for the residents of Bangladesh,
calling their relatives and friends in SAARC is more expensive than calling
someone in the US or UK.

The subcontinent in the twenty-first century is witnessing
a telecommunication boom, wherein tariff has touched an all time low. However,
when it comes to international long distance (ILD) calls to SAARC countries, it
is still expensive in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh offers an economical ISD to its 50.4 mn mobile
phone users (as per the last count on September 2009). A user has to punch some
codes on the cellphone before dialling. The call is routed on VoIP platform. The
voice quality is not good in comparison with the premium ISD, routed through
carrier operator in the respective country. However, economical ISD service is
cheaper, as the name suggests. A caller is charged Taka 6 per minute, while
talking on economical ISD, while the tariff goes up to Taka 16 on premium ISD.

Ironically, economical ISD is offered to some 150
countries, excluding SAARC region. "People will be benefited if the facility is
extended to the SAARC countries, including India and Pakistan, where a
Bangladeshi citizen has most of his/her relatives and friends, on foreign soil.
The cheaper rates will increase the volume of ISD calls. It will benefit the
service provider as well," says Md Saifur Rahman Khan, deputy general manager,
Teletalk Bangladesh.

A huge chunk of revenue goes to the government authorities
on every international call (both economical and premium) made or received while
roaming in Bangladesh. Only a minuscule part goes to the operator.

Of every call routed on the VoIP platform-having a call
rate of Taka 6 per minute-Taka 4.5 goes to the Internet Service Provider. Rest
of the moolah is split between authorities, operators, and international
exchange. Of the rest of Taka 1.5, 51% goes to Bangladesh authorities, 20% goes
to operator. Similar is the revenue sharing structure for premium ISD calls, 51%
of the leftover amount goes to the authorities, after paying carrier operator on
the foreign soil; and 20% to operators.

Similarly, when it comes to roaming tariff, 3 cents per
minute goes to the International Gateway Authority as termination charges. Again
51% of the leftover amount goes to the authorities, and 20% goes to the carrier
operator.

With a teledenesity of 29.7%, the country possesses a huge
opportunity for telecom operators. Every month, the country is adding 1.59 mn
telephone subscribers. Of them 1.49 mn are wireless customers.

"Only government can do something on this issue. First it
should cut down its revenue share, it will help us to get more revenue, and pass
the benefit to subscribers," says a senior official of a telecom operator,
pleading anonymity. "It will also generate more interest for operators on the
ILD front, as right now, they get peanuts. Competition will help to evolve the
market, which will be good for the industry as well as subscribers," he adds.

However, some changes can be possible on the regulatory
front. The Bangladesh government is bringing a new telecom policy. It is likely
that the government will limit the role of the powerful Bangladesh
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), having authority of both
licensing and spectrum in the country. Then the operators can have some relief.

Akhilesh Shukla

akhileshs@cybermedia.co.in