This document discusses how IP telephony can help the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) generate revenue. It provides examples of how IP telephony has been implemented in government, education, healthcare and finance to reduce costs and increase productivity. The document also discusses how BTRC has taken actions like licensing and taxation to generate revenue from illegal IP telephony operations in Bangladesh. In conclusion, the widespread adoption of IP telephony provides great opportunities for BTRC and Bangladesh to substantially increase government telecom revenue through regulatory measures.

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______________
ETE 605
IP Telephony
TERM PAPER
How can IP telephony help the BTRC
for revenue generation?
Prepared For
Dr. Mashiur Rahman
Assistant Professor, North South University
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2008
___________________________________________________________________________
Ranjan Kumar Das
ID # 071 503 056
Section: 02
North South University

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ABSTRUCT
Telecom is a fast changing dynamic sector. Continuous change
in technologies and opportunities created by such change and
consequent impact on the customer/user necessitates changes and
adaptation of policies in the sector. Countries which respond timely and
appropriately to such change grow successfully whereas others who
fail, lag behind, remaining trapped in the vicious circle of poverty and
under-development. Bangladesh being a developing country is fast
trying to catch up with the developed world, and adapt its policies, in
response to changing needs, opportunities and requirements in different
sectors, including the telecom sector. Nowadays, IP (Internet
Protocol) telephony is the most attractive part of the telecom
sector. BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission) regulates all of the parts of the telecommunication sectors
in Bangladesh. At present this commission generates one of the biggest
parts of revenue in Bangladesh.

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1 Introduction
IP telephony – the implementation of voice over an IP-based network – is fast
becoming an attractive and viable opportunity for businesses.
Today the market for IP telephony is rapidly maturing (Figure 1). There has been
widespread deployment and acceptance of IP telephony solutions in a broad range of market
sectors, such as government, education, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing where
competitive advantages depend on the ability to enhance productivity and increase mobility.
Opportunities are not limited to these markets; in fact, new organizations have deployed IP
Telephony solutions have reported a range of benefits that include cost savings, increased
revenues, and new opportunities to drive business innovation. Even companies that had not
been favorably disposed toward IP telephony now realize the advantages of introducing this
technology into their own enterprises.
Figure 1. Enterprise Packet Voice Market
Almost every corporation in Bangladesh, whether it is large or small, wants to use IP
telephony and Voice over IP solutions to facilitate their communication. This method brings
down the expenses for the companies - particularly the infrastructural investment in their
communication processes.

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2 Why IP Telephony?
Over the years, enterprise companies have invested worldwide heavily in multiple
communication infrastructures to operate separate voice and data networks. Because these
systems are often not compatible, converging them can be difficult and expensive to
maintain. What is more, completely ripping out an existing infrastructure all together by
bringing in an end-to-end offering from a large data provider can be costly and a waste of
resources (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Challenges of IP Telephony Deployments
IP telephony allows organizations to simplify and streamline their communication
systems. It is commonly used to support business environments where employees and
customers are demanding access to advanced applications and new ways of collaborating
across their business. IP telephony presents exciting opportunities for adding more value-
added services and applications throughout the organization.
In a “Greenfield” location (a facility with no existing telecommunications equipment),
a company can install IP Telephony solution that supports integrated communication
capabilities. Companies that already have an existing telecommunications system in place can

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continue to use the existing infrastructure and migrate to IP telephony over time at a pace that
makes sense for them based on their specific business needs, blending new and legacy
equipment.
The past few years have seen only modest investment in telecommunications
infrastructure, but companies have shown an increasing desire to invest in IP telephony
solutions. It’s been estimated that seven million voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) phones
will be in circulation by 2007 (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Total Enterprise IP Telephony Market: Revenue (World), 2002-2007
3 Examples of Implementations
Government
Municipalities and other governmental entities tend to have multiple departments and
locations running on disparate – and often incompatible – technology infrastructures. This
can, and often does, pose significant maintenance and support challenges.

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The adoption of IP telephony creates a single virtual telephony environment for
various departments spread throughout the city – or country. By unifying voice and data
technology infrastructures, maintenance and support are greatly simplified. Furthermore, a
single network can provide virtually every city employee with traditional telephone services
as caller ID, call forwarding, voice mail, and advanced directory service – plus advanced IP
telephone capabilities such as auto attendant, “follow me” messaging, message forwarding to
off-system users, and centralized directory integration.
Figure 4. Benefits of deploying an IP Telephony solution
Education
Traditionally paper-based, school districts are turning to enhanced IP telephony
systems to replace tedious handwritten tasks. Attendance, hall passes, scheduling, and some
security features are integrated into applications that help save time and money while
simplifying the administrative process.

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Universities can also leverage the flexibility of IP Telephony solutions to help drive
revenue to offset additional infrastructure costs. By deploying IP phones into dormitory
rooms throughout the campus, a university can derive advertising revenue from a host of
locally supported student service businesses ranging from pizza delivery shops, bookstores,
and more.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry depends on innovation to provide the best possible service to
its ultimate customer, the patient. IP Telephony solution has helped create tools that give
doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical staff access to scheduling, medical records, and lab
results through IP phones or other mobile devices, such as PDAs or tablet PCs.
A converged data and voice network allows healthcare providers to access,
manipulate, and archive voice, text, and displayed information in ways that help cut costs and
enhance productivity. For example, after a patient visit, doctors can link verbal dictation to
patient records for immediate updates. Invoices can be submitted using voice technology,
saving doctors and other hospital staff time and reducing administration expenses.
Finance
By combining multiple network infrastructures into a single IP-based network,
financial institutions can consolidate disparate infrastructures and reduce communications
costs. At the same time, those savings can be transferred back to customers in the form of
more competitive products such as Internet banking and bill pay, and offering value-added
services such as wealth management and online trading and trade monitoring. Using IP
telephony solutions, banks can move all channels into the branch, reducing manual cash
handling by tellers, and providing an additional delivery mechanism for enhanced customer
service. The result: simpler operations, lower maintenance and support costs, and greater
agility.

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Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry is using IP telephony to speed up time to market and to
balance supply and demand. The technology lowers the risk of unpredictable demand,
uncertain availability, and fluctuating prices for direct materials by speeding up the
communication process between distributors and suppliers. Industries like automotive, retail,
pharmaceuticals, and high-tech are realizing dramatic improvements in inventory, service
levels, supply and demand variability, and distribution channels through converged
voice/data systems. Manufacturing organizations also realize savings in long-distance rates
and can leverage multiple mobile communication and productivity solutions. Instead of
expensive PBX equipment at every office site, centralized IP telephony solutions provide
cost-effective central management and support.
4 Illegal IP Telephony through BTTB
The ongoing drive against illegal VOIP operation has resulted in a record jump of
overseas telephone calls through the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB)
system, statistics show. The BTTB is now handling more than 12 million minutes of overseas
calls per day as against around four million minutes of calls per day last year. Such a jump
however is mainly due to incoming calls. Overseas calls through the "legal" or BTTB channel
started to mark a significant upward trend from January this year and rose to the highest
number of around 14 million minutes of calls a day during the recent Eid vacation. This is
considered significant because illegal VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) operation had
long been depriving the government of huge revenue, and the BTTB's overseas revenue
earning was consistently nose-diving during the period. It is estimated that operators were
bagging Tk 15,000 crore a year through illegal overseas telephony using VOIP technology
while the BTTB's earning from overseas calls was just around Tk 200 crore last year. BTTB
records show that it handled 22.8 crore minutes of incoming overseas calls and 2.9 crore
minutes of outgoing calls in August last year. During the corresponding period year 2006, it

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handled 8.3 crore incoming and two crore outgoing calls. Again, only in eight months till
August last year, the BTTB handled about 120 crore minutes of incoming calls and 19 crore
minutes of outgoing calls. In contrast, it dealt with 90 crore minutes of incoming and 23 crore
minutes of outgoing calls last year. Outgoing calls are not increasing significantly because
call rates are generally perceived as very high. Besides, people in general prefer to receive
overseas calls than make overseas calls, telecom experts say. Overseas calls have become a
major business in Bangladesh since the late nineties mainly due to the VOIP technology that
was being used without giving the government any tax or duty. Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had played a questionable role in this
regard. Consequently, overseas calls in the gray markets became so cheap that Bangladesh
became one of the fastest growing overseas call markets.
5 BTRC Actions
According to the regulatory and licensing guidelines of international gateway license,
the auction will be based on open bids and the bidders will bid for the percentage of the
revenue to be shared with the BTRC.
The bidding will start at sharing 25 per cent of the revenue with the BTRC, and each
successive bid will have to be incrementally higher by 0.25 per cent.
The BTRC has also fixed Tk 15 crore as acquisition fee for each international
gateway license.
The licensees will be given initially for a 15-year term with an option for renewal
after every five year subject to the BTRC’s approval. All the three international gateways will
be located in Dhaka and must be open to lawful interception by the intelligence
agencies.
The guidelines say that the license holders will set up the international gateway
exchanges and launch services within four months from the issuance of the licensees.

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They will have the primary backbone connection with international networks through
the SEA-ME-WE submarine cable and also other submarine cables whenever available.
The license holders will also have the backup connectivity through the satellite earth
station until an alternative submarine cable is available.
6 Conclusions
According to the above discussions it can be clear that, using the IP Telephony,
BTRC can earn a lot of money by licensing, tax, rules avoiding fine in telecommunication
sector. Besides this, revenue of Bangladesh will be increased tremendously. Therefore it is
the great opportunities to increase the government revenue of Bangladesh.
7. REFERENCES
I. Why VoIP: it is the best, see http:// bd-it.blogspot.com
II. IP Telephony Solution White Paper, see http://www.procurve.com
III Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission,
http://www.btrc.gov.bd
IV. The Daily Star, Internet Edition