$50 penalty for illegal VoIP business by SIM user

The telecoms secretary has vowed to crack down on the illegal use of Internet Protocol (IP) to carry voice calls. "If the regulator traces any SIM being used for VoIP calls, the user of it will be fined $50 for the offence," he said in an impromptu press conference on illegal international call termination held at Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) office in Dhaka on Friday. A primary attraction of VoIP is its ability to help reduce expenses because telephone calls travel over the data network rather than a phone operator's network. "We will not spare anyone involved in the illegal VoIP business as the government has vowed to show zero tolerance in this regard," said Faizur Rahman. BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood said a large number of international calls are being made recently through OTT (Over the top) technology, which are not accounted and that was why the volume of traditional international calls has seen a decrease. “If we (BTRC) locate any operator involved in this, we pass the information to the authorities concerned. The government takes the final decision in this regard,” he said. According to the BTRC, the country records approximately 70-80 million minutes of international calls in a day.