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Published : 07 Jul 2025, 11:34 PM
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the chief advisor's special assistant on ICT, has claimed the allegation of sending a letter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to "halt" an inquiry into a telecommunications project is false.
Speaking on the matter at a media briefing on Monday at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, he said: “The DO (demi-official) letter was actually meant to seek ACC’s sincere cooperation.”
The Daily Kalbela on Sunday published a report titled “Special assistant’s letter to stop ACC, Tk 3.26 billion spent on Tk 1.5 billion project”.
According to the report, equipment with a 126-terabyte capacity is being purchased for Tk 3.26 billion, despite an actual need for only 26 terabytes.
The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) recommended a maximum of Tk 1.65 billion to meet the real demand.
The report alleged that a powerful syndicate in the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology was pushing this nonessential procurement by ignoring BUET’s recommendations and the ACC’s objections.
Citing information, it further claimed that Taiyeb directly interfered in the ACC’s activities to keep the project moving, pressuring with a letter issued on his official pad.
In his written statement at the briefing, Taiyeb said he had fallen prey to a “vested interest of mafias” due to issues surrounding telecom licensing.
He also clarified the reasons for writing to the ACC and explained that the investigation by the anti-graft agency began after complaints were lodged against a project titled “BTCL’s 5G Readiness”.
The allegations stated that three bidders were declared technically “responsive” based solely on the project director’s comments, without properly evaluating them per tender rules, and that equipment five times more than the required capacity was purchased, causing significant financial loss.
The ACC, during its investigation, found proof of violating the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and Public Procurement Rules (PPR), and on Jun 18, sent a letter to the ministry recommending suspension of fund disbursement.
In response, Taiyeb wrote to the ACC Chairman on Jun 22, asking to continue the disbursement process.
Clarifying the matter, he said: “BTCL’s fibre network expansion project was taken up during the previous autocratic regime. The tendering process took place during that period, and the attempts to influence the process also occurred under the previous government.
“Before I and Nahid Islam (former ICT advisor) took office, a letter of credit worth Tk 2.90 billion had already been paid as a non-refundable LC. Considering all this, we spoke with the ACC chairman.”
“I personally visited his office. I told him, ‘since Tk 2.90 billion has already been spent, and since this was the lowest bidder, and the misinformation on the bidder was clarified by BUET, we will form a committee’.”
He continued, “Through this committee, we will assess the equipment they promised to deliver (namely, OSR 9800 A2 and M2). These are already being deployed on a large scale by BTCL’s competitors in the domestic broadband market. Of them, certain companies want to push BTCL out of the market.
“In that context, I wrote a letter to the ACC chairman.”
In that letter, Taiyeb said he mainly outlined his arguments, citing BTCL’s need to expand its capacity.
“If BTCL does not upgrade its network now, it may quickly become irrelevant in the market,” he added.
Backing his claim, he said: “As competitors are upgrading their networks, BTCL has not been able to expand its fibre network due to several complications, including allegations of corruption during the previous government’s tenure.”
He alleged that the matter was misrepresented to malign him personally, the ministry, and the interim government’s image.
