Taiyeb says BNP reacting over outdated telecom policy draft

Fakhrul has called for open discussions involving SMEs, tech experts and consumer groups before finalisation of the revised policy

The BNP has raised concerns over a previous draft of the telecom policy, not the latest version, according to Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the chief advisor's special assistant on ICT affairs.

Taiyeb said on Thursday that the issues highlighted by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have already been addressed in the revised draft of the Telecommunication Network and Licencing Regime Reform Policy 2025.

Earlier in the day, the BNP held a press conference where Fakhrul alleged that the government was rushing to finalise the telecom policy and warned that the draft could hurt small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local entrepreneurs.

“Upon reviewing the draft policy, we have identified some serious flaws that could obstruct equitable and sustainable growth in the telecom sector,” Fakhrul said.

He called for open discussions involving SMEs, tech experts and consumer groups before finalisation.

The BNP held the briefing just hours before the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) was scheduled to unveil the draft at 2:30pm at the Foreign Service Academy.

Following the opposition’s intervention, the government did not proceed with the announcement.

Speaking to bdnews24.com via an audio message later in the evening, Taiyeb responded to Fakhrul’s remarks, saying the policy BNP had referred to was obsolete.

“We welcome the fact that political parties are engaging with policy matters. But the draft the BNP secretary general referred to was an earlier version that BTRC had sent to the ministry for vetting and approval,” Taiyeb said.

He explained that the ministry later formed a new committee, which produced a revised draft incorporating feedback and addressing previous objections.

In his press conference, Fakhrul had voiced concern that the deregulation measures in the new policy could trigger a financial crisis for small operators, particularly local ISPs, due to a lack of clear guidance on assets and liabilities.

Countering this, Taiyeb said: “The concerns raised by the BNP secretary general are directly addressed in the latest draft. For example, SMEs are being given protection. ISPs are being brought under a light-touch licensing regime instead of full deregulation.

“We initially planned full deregulation of ISPs, but they themselves opposed it. They want to retain their licences so they can secure bank loans,” he clarified.

“Based on their request, we kept them under a light-touch licence. Beyond this, we’ve moved towards deregulation in areas like data centres and cloud policy.”