ICX leaders voice concern, allege proposed topology is to benefit mobile operators

The voice and SMS interconnection operators have rejected the proposed telecommunication network and licensing topology that is intended to phase them out.

They supported the existing voice-calling topology and asserted their relevance in the advancement of the country's telecommunication sector.

"The proposed new topology has nothing new or innovative; in fact it will take the industry back to the pre-International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy 2007 days," the Association of ICX Operators of Bangladesh (AIOB) said at a press briefing in the capital yesterday (29 May).

The interconnection exchange (ICX) operators, responsible to connect local operator to operator voice calls and all international calls, explained that the issues with voice call quality are due to mobile operators' weaknesses and the new policy is set to award them more of the business functions phasing out specialised firms dedicated to specific services.

Opposing several narratives backing the new network and licensing policy, AIOB leaders said any change must be backed by rationales, clarity, research and sufficient preparation.

They alleged that ICX is characterised as a broker without justification, driving up costs for consumers. But the reality is, the layer, functioning as a third eye for the regulator and government, assists in overseeing the operations of telecom businesses to gather revenue for the state.

An ICX gets only Tk0.04 by connecting a voice call between two local mobile operators, costing Tk0.45 per minute. The government takes away more than half of the amount and the ICX operator makes only Tk0.01 per call after all costs.

"This is not profiteering," AIOB Treasurer Brig Gen Md Khurshid Alam said in a keynote, expressing his concern that cutting the Tk0.01 profit for the ICX operators might lead to bigger revenue losses for the government alongside weaker services to the consumers at higher costs, instead.

The new topology proposed to phase out international gateway and interconnection licences would only make the top two mobile operators the Frankenstein as seen in the internet industry during the Awami League government, said Mustafa Mahmud Hossain, CEO of Voicetel Ltd.

"The ICX industry in the past 12 years has contributed around Tk6,000 crore to the national exchequer," Ahmed Ur Rahman, head of ICX operations at Agni Systems, said in another keynote.

The regulator should look into the incoming international machine-generated SMS that was set to be routed through dedicated gateways and interconnection switches, but the telecom operators are receiving those directly, which deprives the government of around Tk74 crore in revenue a year, he said.

Phasing out ICX would cut government revenue by Tk300 crore a year and nearly 700 skilled engineers' jobs, said AIOB President (in charge) Brig Gen (retd) Mustafizur Rahman.

Hasibur Rashid, director of Bangla ICX, and M Nurul Alam, COO of Imam Network, sought protection of the industry's latest spell of over Tk160 crore investments in new technology last year.  

The government plans to approve the new network topology and licensing regime policy in June for simplification and deregulation to encourage investment.

Homegrown gateway, interconnection and fiber infrastructure owners over the week in separate press briefings, opined that the policy would sacrifice local investors' interests and further strengthen mobile companies mostly owned by foreigners.