BTRC asks mobile cos to sign deal with Teletalk by July 23

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The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has
asked the private-sector mobile phone companies to sign
interconnection agreement with the state-owned Teletalk Bangladesh
Limited within July 23.

The BTRC chairman, Omar Faruq, met the representatives of
GrameenPhone, AkTel, CityCell, Banglalink, Teletalk and the
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) on Wednesday and
asked them to sign the agreements in line with the BTRC
Interconnection Regulations 2004.

`We will sit with the private mobile phone companies separately next
week to finalise the terms and conditions of the agreement,' said a
top official of Teletalk.

The commission's directive will bring to an end the standoff between
the private operators and Teletalk over interconnection since the
state-owned mobile company began commercial operations on March 31,
said BTRC official.

Interconnection means the connection of two networks, thereby
allowing customers of one network to connect with customers of
another.

The Interconnection Regulations 2004 of the commission stipulate that
the interconnection agreement should be executed within three months
from the first day on which the new operator starts providing
telecommunication service.

Although the operation of Teletalk has already surpassed three
months, the private operators reportedly did not come up with any
concrete response to its invitation to sign interconnection
agreements.

After failing to get positive response from the private operators,
Teletalk on April 30 formally urged the commission to intervene and
settle the issue.

Teletalk currently has 75,000 subscribers.

The four private companies have a combine subscriber base of around
60 lakh.