The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is leaving a landmark in the country's telecommunication system by awarding licenses to six interconnection exchange (ICX) and international gateway (IGW) operators and this allows them to operate voice over internet protocol (VoIP) in the country.
By doing so, the regulatory body has "killed two birds with a single stones", it has made VoIP services available to the users in the country at a cost that will be affordable to them and at the same time generated revenue for the government. It is estimated that about 15,000 million taka which is equivalent to $215m will be generated from these six operators annually.
In a statement made available by BTRC chairman, General (rtd) Manzurul Alam during the inauguration of ICX operation by GETCO Telecom, one of the six operators awarded license, He stated that "Telecommunications will change Bangladesh's socio-economic conditions. I believe this and others should also believe so. The government stands to earn 15,000mn taka every year from the six licenses. Given your co-operation, the face of Bangladesh will change by 2015 and beyond."
He estimated that the mobile penetration in Bangladesh now stands at 30%, while the rate in India is 27%, predicting that the number of mobile subscribers in the country would reach 70mn by the end of 2011.
He also revealed that there is a huge market to be cashed on by the operators especially from the villages which account for about 80% of the country's total population.
Although ICX is only available in only five districts, the chairman said that arrangement is being made to expand the operation to other districts.