The state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) in January reduced the charges for telephone calls to US and Canada to Tk 7.50 per minute using a new access code, 012. The facility now applies to users in Dhaka only.

"The BTTB will propose to the telecommunications ministry to restrict government telephones from availing the reduced call charges as we need to pay overseas operators in foreign currency. Otherwise, the country will lose a huge amount of foreign exchange," BTTB Chairman Md Nurul Islam said.

He mentioned that the BTTB is not allowing its service telephones to enjoy the new facility.

There are 36,602 government telephones and 6,386 BTTB service telephones.

In reply to a question, Nurul Islam said some subscribers are facing congestion due to lack of required knowledge about using the new code.

He categorically denied the BTTB's reported involvement in the VoIP (voice-over internet protocol) to terminate calls at the reduced rate. "We are using a special compressed technology to apply the reduced rate, instead of using the conventional International Trunk Exchange (ITX)," he said.

About VoIP licence, he said the BTTB does not need such licence because it is authorised to send voice since the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) came into being.

The BTTB chairman said a section of the VSAT (very small aperture terminal) abuses the technology for transmission of voice instead of data, causing a huge loss to the state.

About the criticisms by telephone subscribers outside Dhaka for not getting the facility of reduced call charges, he said the facility will be extended to all in phases.

Nurul Islam, who took over as chairman late last month, said all efforts are being made to introduce the BTTB's mobile phone service in time. "The purchase committee is evaluating the bids now," he added.

The BTTB plans to introduce 2.5 lakh GSM (Global System of Mobile Communications) mobile phones by June this year.