BTRC orders IIG providers to withhold bandwidth from 316 ISPs

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has instructed International Internet Gateway (IIG) providers to withhold bandwidth from 316 Internet Service Provider (ISP) companies.

BTRC on Wednesday gave the instruction through three separate notifications, saying that those ISPs did not apply for the renewal of their licenses, nor the approval for service tariffs. Hence, the regulatory body instructed IIGs to disconnect bandwidth from those ISPs, according to the notifications received on Thursday. The notifications were signed by BTRC Engineering and Operations Department Senior Assistant Director Shiblee Imtiaz.

According to the ISP Licensing Guidelines, the ISPs are obligated to apply to the commission for license renewal after five years. A total of 84 ISP companies failed to comply with this directive, and so BTRC directed the IIG operators to stop providing bandwidth to them from the day of issuing the order. Among the 84, there are 64 Class A, 2 Class B and 18 Class C ISPs, one notification read. Aside from disconnecting bandwidth from these 84 ISPs, the BTRC has also ordered not to provide any new connections. If this directive is not followed, the BTRC would take action against the IIG providers.

On another notification, IIGs were also ordered to disconnect 228 licenced ISPs as they did not comply with the policy of applying to the Commission for tariff approval. Among them, 125 ISPs are of Class A, 15 of Class B, and 88 of Class C.