Pornography spreads amid futile govt ban
The government initiative to block pornography websites has proved a futile exercise due to lack of technological knowhow and concerted efforts from the state agencies.
On January 1, 2017, the government launched an anti-porn campaign to create safe and secure internet space for all. In the process, it has blocked 22,000 porn sites in the last three years.
But statistics show only blocking websites has had little effect on Bangladeshi internet users as they are increasingly visiting pornographic websites. Besides, such videos can be easily downloaded and circulated.
The country has a very rigid law titled Pornography Control Act-2012, which says preservation, distribution, selling, displaying, advertising of pornographic contents is a punishable offence.
No bar for now on two telcos’ value-added services
The telecom regulator yesterday temporarily withdrew its ban on Robi and Banglalink on providing value-added services from third parties after the operators agreed to ensure compliance, a senior official said.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) suspended the order after the operators promised that telecom VAS would not be activated on the phones of subscribers without the consent of subscribers, said Subrata Roy Maitra, vice-chairman of the regulator. Senior officials of Robi and Banglalink went to the commission yesterday and sought withdrawal of the order that was issued on Sunday. We withdrew the order on conditions. We told them to bring an end to the harassment faced by customers and ensure securing consent from them through SMS, one-time password or apps before any VAS is activated. They agreed, said Maitra. On November 10, the BTRC asked the carriers to put a stop to provide VAS of the content
Telecompaper
Bangladeshi mobile phone subscriber base almost flat in November Monday 21 December 2020 | 09:42 CET | News Bangladesh ended November with almost 168.3 million mobile phone subscribers, slightly up from 168.1 million in October, according to data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Grameenphone s customer base was stable month-on-month at 78.12 million, while Robi Axiata ended November with 50.59 million, up from 50.41 million the previous month. Banglalink had 35.01 million mobile customers, up from 34.91 million, while Teletalk ended November with 4.63 million mobile customers, up from 4.63 million 4.61 million in October.
Thank you for visiting Telecompaper
Sign up below to get access to the rest of this article and all the telecom news you need.
Senior Correspondent,
bdnews24.com
Published: 20 Dec 2020 08:47 PM BdST
Updated: 20 Dec 2020 09:49 PM BdST
Mobile telecom operator Robi is paying the government more than Tk 20 billion for spectrum licence renewal lasting 10 years. );
}
It received the 11.6 megahertz 2G spectrum, which is expiring in December 2020, from Airtel after the merger of the two companies in 2016
Robi transferred Tk 4.56 billion to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in the first instalment of the payment on Sunday, said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer at the company.
The firm is renewing the spectrum at the government-fixed rate, said Shyam Sunder Sikder, the chairman of BTRC.
A BTRC official said they fixed the spectrum renewal fees for Robi after taking opinions from the other operators in August.
All telecom indicators but data usage are negative
All indicators in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh were in the negative in the second quarter of 2020, except for the increase in internet data usage as the pandemic battered the economy and reduced income, according to a report.
The revenue for telecom operators during the quarter (April-June) decreased more than 8 per cent compared to the first quarter (January-March), a report of the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) showed.
Active mobile subscriber fell 2.4 per cent, internet subscribers slipped 0.3 per cent, call minutes per customer per month dropped over 6.5 per cent and average revenue per user also decreased over 2.5 per cent.