Tuesday, November 08, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Absence of VoIP hinders business outsourcing

The use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is yet to be legalised in the country, just in order to protect the interests of a few IT companies, though it could pave way for earning plenty of IT outsourcing works.

The IT professionals and business leaders claimed this saying that through legalisation of the VoIP, the government would get earn a huge revenue.

The president of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), Akhtaruzzaman Manju, told the news agency that the system would allow the country to earn about Tk 1,000 crore in foreign exchange. 'We are not facilitated, while the VoIP is recognised across the world,' he added.

It would make the field for working in the call centres and within the first two years, about one lakh employment would be ensured, he added.

The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, herself called for the legalisation of the VoIP at a meeting of the ICT taskforce, but it did not turn into reality, said former BCS president, Mostafa Jabbar.

The chief executive officer of SkyBd, Shoeb Chowdhury, said India and Nepal, were earning huge foreign currencies through the system.

'We would ensure government revenue by receiving outsourcing from the US, Europe and Germany.'

The country experienced illegal VoIP business through many IT institutions that have 50 to 300 telephone lines and the Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board was already been informed about it, Akhtaruzzaman said.

Source: Bangladesh Nws