1. Mobile launched in 1997: Telcos didn’t have fiber transmission*

2. Investing in Different Network Layers

3. >US$ 400 million invested

4. OFC TX networks in Bangladesh Source: BTRC websiteBTRC website (Retrieved on April 19, 2014)

5. Revised Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines Missed the opportunity of open access

6. 2008 2011 Original and amended telecom Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines

7. From competition to captive market

8. Impact analyses of amended guideline NTTNs not necessarily own fiber infrastructure. Yet, they are exclusive providers of transmission services. – Public sector monopoly (BTCL) and private sector duopoly (Two NTTNs). – BTCL also operates access and gateways. Airtel and Robi. – Increased operating costs and slower network rollout. Grameenphone, Banglalink and CityCell – Investment (>US$ 400 million) under jeopardy. The entire telecom sector – Reliability and affordability of fixed and mobile broadband is compromised. – Discouraging for foreign investments in infrastructure development.

10. Tweet from Renesys on November 16, 2012: “BTCL, Mango down. Fiber@Home uses terrestrial conx to India, Link3 stays on satellite up.”

11. Routine maintenance of SMW4 on January 23, 2013 20:14 to 21:53 UTC. BTCL and Mango are completely offline during the downtime. 1Asia, Aamra, NovoCom and Fiber@Home experienced increases in their traffic as customers automatically shift traffic to the surviving connection.

12. Bangladesh is among 10 emerging countries hot on the heels of the BRICS (March 26, 2014) Coface identifies only 10 "new emerging" countries which meet all the criteria. However, these countries are not the same in terms of their business environments - the weaknesses of which can stifle growth. This leads Coface to distinguish two groups in the "new emerging" countries: – Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lanka have a sound business climate (A4 or B), similar to that of the BRIC countries today. – Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia have very difficult (C) or extremely difficult (D) business environments which could hamper their growth prospects. Source: Coface press release.Coface press release.

13. A note of encouragement Naturally, it will be more difficult for the second group of countries, who could take longer to fully realise their growth potential. However, their business environment problems are relative: in 2001, the quality of governance in Brazil, China, India and Russia was comparable to that of Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia today. Julien Marcilly, Head of country risk at Coface.

14. Next steps in telecom: Back to basics Restore Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines of 2008. – Be technology-neutral. – Encourage active infrastructure sharing. Unbundle BTCL’s transmission from access networks. – Ensure the ITCs access to SASEC network. – Explore Structural Separation of private networks. Unified Licenses with Open Access for NTTNs. – Reduce regulatory fees. – Tax-incentive for co-locating data centers. Foreign carriers to trade IP Transit in Bangladesh – Declare BSCCL as a Facilities Based Operator. Issue more Facilities Based Licenses.Facilities Based Licenses.

15. Today’s policy shapes tomorrow Picture: The Daily Star