In a tough move, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fined four mobile phone operators Tk 7.65 crore on allegations of operating illegal VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).
Interestingly, the state-owned telecom operator Teletalk is among those fined, reports UNB.
BTRC fined Teletalk Tk 5 crore, Robi Tk 2 crore, while Grameenphone and Banglalink were fined Tk 50 lakh and Tk 15 lakh respectively for disobeying the commission's directive and licensing conditions, said BTRC notification.
These operators have been instructed to pay the administrative fines by June 30.
The letter signed by BTRC Secretary Md Nurul Hafiz was recently sent to the mobile operators concerned, it said.
The BTRC fined these operators after hearing over the seizure of SIM (subscriber identity module) used in illegal VoIPs while conducting drives at various times.
The BTRC has also warned the operators to comply with some instructions.
The commission has seized 32,845 SIMs of Teletalk, 16,390 of Robi, 2,356 of Grameenphone and 753 of Banglalink, it added.
