The telecom regulator has issued a show cause notice to Fiber@Home Ltd and Fiber@Home Global Ltd for running broadband business through illegal and unlicensed internet service providers (ISPs).

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) served the notice on September 17.

The notice also issued an interim instruction to the two to completely shut down their all operational activities related to 'cyclone project' at Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jashore until further instructions.

The two companies were asked to respond to the notice with a clear and specific statement and necessary documents within seven days.

The duo responded, refuting the allegation by claiming that they were just helping some ISPs through a platform.

The allegation arose in late August when an inspection team of the commission's Enforcement and Inspection Directorate went to the park to inspect the "cyclone project" and collect relevant information, said the notice.

The team found the two providing ISP services "illegally" through the "cyclone project", it said.

Fiber@Home is a licensed Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) service provider while Fiber@Home Global is an International Internet Gateway (IIG) operator.

According to BTRC's rules, NTTN and IIG operators can't run business as ISPs.

Moreover, the NTTN and IIG tariffs and infrastructure sharing guidelines set by the commission are not being followed in the project, the notice said.

Fiber@Home and Fiber@Home Global said they were not involved in running any business as ISPs.

Small ISPs along with some nationwide ISPs are suffering for not being able to provide services smoothly in remote areas, causing customers to miss out on quality service, they said.

This is due to a lack of technical knowledge, not having proper billing solutions and not being able to properly keep usage logs, said the two.

"We have initiated Cyclone CRM and Billing Platform just to bridge that gap."

The platform allows ISPs to reach remote townships at a sustainable cost through Fiber@Home's transmission network, they added.

During the implementation of the platform, they were aware about the tariffs defined by the BTRC for each stakeholder, including VAT, tax and revenue sharing, the firms said, adding that they were adhering to the BTRC's tariff guidelines and regulations.