Int’l incoming call rate slashed 66pc
The government has slashed the international incoming voice call rate by 65.71 % to $0.006 per minute when confronted with shrinking earnings from the sector in recent years.
The decision, which was taken last Thursday, comes following requests from the International Gateway (IGW) operators to greatly help them cope with the growing risk of internet-based communication services.
A significant portion of international calls are now made through internet-based communication platforms such as for example WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger, Skype, IMO and WeChat, which cost nothing apart from the price of data.
Mobile network operators run promotional campaigns for these applications as the relatives of folks working abroad have slowly but surely grown familiar with using internet-based platforms in which to stay touch, according to industry insiders.
IGW operators are accountable for all international voice call termination moving in or out of Bangladesh.
Legal voice calls have currently been down to about 2 crore minutes a day, which was some 10 crore minutes a couple of years back.
Apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Imo, Skype, WeChat and Messenger are overtaking local calls too, said Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
"These programs are also pushing network operators to dire scenarios too," he said.
Globally, data is gradually overtaking voice services as the largest contributor to carriers' revenue.
"This is also affecting government revenue. Taking into consideration the situation, we made this decision," Jabbar told The Daily Star yesterday evening.
The federal government considered this move for just two other reasons aswell: to greatly help save the IGW industry and control the against the law termination rate.
International call termination was one of the government's main sources of revenue just five years back. However, earnings from the sector has shrunk substantially recently.
In fiscal 2014-15, the government's earnings from international calls was Tk 2,075.62 crore, which declined to Tk 1,387.37 crore, Tk 967.63 crore, Tk 900.35 crore and simply a few hundred crore in successive years, according to BTRC officials.
Voice calls made through free applications is because the rise of smartphones and mobile broadband coverage, Jabbar said.
"We have to embrace this development of smartphones with regard to digitisation. There is no debate on that, but as well we also have a responsibility to save our operators aswell," he added.
Although the amount of active online connections reached ten crores, the real number of internet users' is approximately four crore. The vast majority of them use communication applications even for local calls, industry insiders said.
Currently, Bangladesh has 24 IGW operators, which, six lost their licenses for failing to pay unpaid dues.
The most recent decision also signifies that IGW operators will share their revenues based on the declared floor price it doesn't matter how much they actually charge for calls.
