Bangladesh telecom regulators pull up Grameenphone for providing internet service 'illegally'

Telecom regulators BTRC has slapped Grameenphone with a show-cause notice for providing ‘Go Broadband’ internet service to its customers through optical fibre in breach of the terms of agreement.

A letter to that end was sent to the chief executive of Bangladesh’s largest mobile-phone operator on Wednesday.

An unconvincing response could see the carrier count up to Tk 3 billion in penalties, BTRC officials say.

BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam told bdnews24.com that GP was served with the show-cause notice and appropriate action would be considered against the company after receiving its response to the notice.

Grameenphone Head of External Communications, Sayed Talat Kamal told bdnews24.com, “We have received the notice and (will) provide our response accordingly.”

GP has been asked to explain in 30 days why action as per law should not be taken for providing “secure point-to-point data connectivity along with telecoms transmission services” to Sonali Bank Limited in violation of its 2G and 3G licence terms.

These terms bind the mobile operators to providing internet services only through device and modem.

The notice has pointed out that the GP had struck a deal with Sonali Bank to provide the internet service without the BTRC’s approval. Again, Grameenphone does not have the licence to provide such service.

In 2012, GP obtained licence to provide ISP internet in conjunction with ISPs Agni and ADN.

The terms clearly state that GP can only provide internet through the infrastructure-sharing agreement with Agni and ADN.

In providing Sonali Bank with the “Go Broadband” service through an agreement signed between GP and the bank, the BTRC has observed that GP has violated clauses 4.7 and 4.8 of the infrastructure-sharing deal.

The letter has asked GP to immediately discontinue ISP services to Sonali Bank.

As per the law, mobile operators cannot set up optical backbone transmission. 
 
That permission is enjoyed by optical fibre network transmission service providers National Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) organisations. 
 
The letter observes that GP has violated some Infrastructure-Sharing guidelines with their “Go Broadband” service. 
 
According to the rules, it cannot lease or share infrastructure without permission.  
 
GP cannot provide wired connections, the BTRC rules say. 
 
A BTRC official said that GP authorities had failed to come up with satisfactory responses twice in the past. The show-cause notice was served only after that. 
 
The notice also directs GP to quash their agreement with Sonali Bank.
 
A copy of the letter has been sent to the general manager of the state-owned bank. 
 
The Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) on Feb 28 submitted a written complaint with the BTRC against the ‘Go Braodband’ service, following which the issue came to the attention of the authorities.