ICX cos’ dues to BTRC swell to Tk 638cr

The outstanding dues of the country’s 25 interconnection exchange operators have increased by more than Tk 600 crore in last three years as the politically-licensed ICX operators, who received licenses in 2012, are reluctant to pay the revenue share. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s latest data, the total outstanding of the ICX operators reached Tk 638 crore in June, the last month of the financial year 2014-15. The dues were Tk 25 crore in 2012-13 and witnessed a whopping rise to Tk 181 crore in 2013-14 and subsequently increased to Tk 432 crore in 2014-15. The government in 2012, when there were two ICX operators, awarded another 23 ICX licences on political consideration ignoring the BTRC suggestion to provide at best 10 licences. The ICX operators route international and domestic calls and link between the other operators like international gateway operators and mobile telephone operators. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials say the increasing dues of the ICX operators have become a serious concern of the commission. ‘The commission recently decided to relax the payment mode for the operators in a bid to collect the money. We will allow the ICX operators to pay their dues in six equal instalments,’ a senior commission official told New Age last week. As the dues of the International Gateway operators have reduced significantly last month, the commission is now focusing on the ICX operators, he said. ‘If the ICX operators fail to pay the dues after this facility, the commission will take action according to the book,’ the official said. In October last year the BTRC also initiated a move to amend the ICX guideline in a bid to cut the performance bank guarantee for non-payment of revenue sharing. The BTRC come under huge criticism after the dues of 29 IGW operators reached near Tk 1,000 crore last year because of political influence of the ruling party leaders. Most of the IGW operators have strong linkups to the ruling Awami League and some AL lawmakers and their families directly owned shares of those companies. The BTRC last year finally suspended operations of and lodged cases against six IGW operators for non-payment of around Tk 623 crore in revenue sharing. The six operators — Ratul Telecom, Key Telecom, Bestec, SM Communication, Vision Tel and Telex Limited — are linked to ruling Awami League lawmakers. News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net