Thirty-five internet service providers (ISPs) applied to renew their licences less than six months before expiry, missing a deadline set by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
The regulator has also found that 20 ISPs which applied after their licences had expired had incomplete documents. Some had unpaid fines or outstanding dues, while others were found to be non-operational.
The findings emerged from a BTRC commission review in September. The regulator decided to issue notices and impose fines in several cases, with some renewal applications to be considered only after operators settle their dues and submit the missing documents.
Of the 35 ISPs that applied within the final 179 days of their licence period, 14 had submitted complete and updated documents.
However, they breached clause 15.1 of the ISP guidelines, which requires applications to be submitted at least 180 days before expiry. The evaluation committee recommended fines against all 14.
Five other operators in this group had incomplete documents, financial arrears and/or questions about their operational status.
The commission recommended fines and notices through the Licence Information Management System (LIMS), asking them to submit the missing documents. Their renewal applications will be considered after they pay the fines and provide updated information.
Another 11 operators had previously been found to have incomplete documents but later submitted all the required papers. They had already been fined at the BTRC’s 309th and 310th commission meetings. The commission recommended proceeding with their renewals once the fines are paid.
The remaining five had continued to have document deficiencies, financial arrears and/or non-operational status despite resubmitting documents. They had already been fined under a decision taken at the 310th commission meeting. The commission decided to issue further notices through LIMS and consider their renewals after the fines are paid and the required documents are submitted.
The regulator separately reviewed 35 applications from ISPs and vehicle-tracking service operators that were submitted after their licences had expired. Fourteen had complete and updated documents, while 21 had deficiencies.
One of the 21 was AUTO AC BD, a vehicle-tracking service operator. The remaining 20 were ISPs.
Seven of these ISPs were recommended for fresh fines and notices asking them to submit missing documents. They are Torque Bangla Info, Vision Blue Communication, Pabna Cable Vision Dot Net, Star IT, Brother’s Online BD, Vbangla and Global Link.
The meeting minutes specify fines of Tk20,000 for Torque Bangla Info and Tk5,000 for Global Link. They do not state the proposed amounts for the other five operators.
Five other ISPs had previously lost their licences after failing to renew them on time but later had them reinstated after paying fines. The commission decided not to impose further penalties on them. Instead, it will seek their missing documents through LIMS before proceeding with the renewals.
The five are Bhuiyan Net & Solution, Brothers Cyber Net, Flash Net Tele-Network, Linkin Net and S. Communication.
Another eight ISPs had already been fined at the BTRC’s 309th and 310th commission meetings. Their resubmitted documents were still incomplete, and the review also found financial arrears and/or concerns about whether they were operating.
The commission decided against imposing further fines on them. It will issue notices through LIMS, with their renewals to be considered after they pay the previous fines and submit updated documents.
The eight are Romance Cable Network, S S Ali & Co, Spark Online, Payra Networks, S.H. Network, Tuhin Enterprise’s Dakshinkhan operation, and Yeahia Dot Com’s operations in Mahadebpur and Patnitala.
The remaining 14 applicants in the post-expiry group had submitted complete and updated documents but still faced fines before their renewals could proceed. I Link Internet Service, a divisional-level ISP, was recommended for a Tk20,000 fine.
The commission also decided to proceed with the renewal of four upazila- and thana-level ISP licences that had previously been cancelled and later reinstated after the operators paid fines. They are Britto Network, Dot Net Online’s Kalabagan and Sher-E-Bangla Nagar operations, and Vision Plus Internet Service. No further fines were recommended, but the operators must pay the applicable renewal fees.
In a separate decision, the BTRC approved the renewal of 10 upazila- and thana-level ISP licences until 30 June 2027 after finding their applications and information in order.
However, Zain Network, an upazila-level ISP in Barisal Sadar, had only two subscribers. The commission decided to seek an explanation from the operator before taking further steps on its renewal application.
The review also found outstanding revenue dues against IDS Bangladesh, a nationwide ISP applicant. The dues relate to the company’s cancelled Internet Protocol Telephony Service Provider (IPTSP) licence. A certificate case, numbered 564BTRC/2016, is pending before the General Certificate Officer’s court in Dhaka.
The committee recommended that the BTRC consider renewing IDS Bangladesh’s ISP licence only after the company pays all outstanding dues relating to its cancelled IPTSP licence and meets the other renewal requirements.
