Restoring the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's (BTRC's) independence by reverting to the original legal framework should be a priority for reform, according to its new chairman Major General (retd) Emdad Ul Bari.

"If we truly want reforms and want to avoid transitioning from one unregulated system to another, we must return to the original Bangladesh Telecommunication Act-2001," he said during an interview with The Daily Star.

According to the commission's new chief, the original legal framework empowered the telecom regulator to work independently and make key decisions independently. However, it was amended in 2010, with the BTRC required to seek government approval before acting.

"This small change had a massive impact on the industry," Bari said.

For instance, even if the telecom regulator wants to issue a mobile network operator licence, it must seek government approval. This enables the government to grant licences based on political preferences.

As such, he said the BTRC is merely acting as "a rubber stamp" and that it had transformed into a "farce commission".

"Without correcting this, reforms will be unsustainable," he noted.

Although he was appointed as chairman last week, Bari is not new to the BTRC. He previously served as the director general of systems and services at the commission from January 2015 to February 2018.

His new role will require him to address not only external challenges but also internal challenges, especially given that corruption allegations against BTRC officials were rife over the past 15 years.

On the external front, the challenge will emerge from government policies that have ultimately led to an uneven playing field, favouring those close to the regime.

Internal reforms have already started, with several key officials transferred to new positions.

Additionally, Bari said it was high time to review the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services (ILDTS) Policy, which many believe restricts market competition, creates monopolies, and hampers innovation.

According to Bari, over the past 15-20 years, the telecom industry worldwide made a strategic error by focusing solely on connectivity.

"They believed connectivity was the main business in the telecommunications sector. When the internet arrived, they continued to see connectivity as the core business," he said.

"However, it later became clear that new platforms based on internet protocols were emerging and businesses began to thrive in that sphere. Globally, those in the telecom industry are striving to become digital service providers."

Bari said the ILDTS policy was first introduced to stop Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and services were segmented vertically and horizontally.

"At that time, it might have been necessary. But now, we have moved far beyond that point. Technology has advanced significantly, and integration and convergence are on the rise," he said.

"I believe the time has come for a thorough review of this policy."

When asked about the high taxes on telecom and internet industries and ways to reduce internet prices, he said it is possible to lower costs by eliminating unnecessary steps in the internet service provisioning process.

"The internet has now become a basic service. The cheaper it is, the more benefits it will bring. Direct revenue from the internet has long been discussed, but the indirect benefits from the internet should be thoroughly researched by economists and scholars," Bari said.

The BTRC chairman said that there are many stages before the internet reaches consumers, starting from submarine cables to international internet gateway to national telecommunication transmission network to internet service providers, each adding some value and changing the end prices.

"It is not possible to reduce internet prices overnight. But if we can reduce the number of stages, the price could be lowered. I believe internet prices should be reduced."

Bari, who also served as the director general of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and vice-chancellor of the Bangladesh University of Professionals, also spoke about the quality and productive use of the internet.

"Statistics can be misleading if you don't understand or interpret them properly. It has been said that internet users have increased. But what type of users? Some use very little data. And even when large data users engage, it is often for unproductive content. We need accurate statistics on the productive use of the internet.

"If we can expand the network properly, internet speeds will improve significantly as the gateway capacity has not yet been exhausted."

Asked why BTRC has failed to effectively utilise the Social Obligation Fund (SOF), a contributory funding system in the telecom sector, he said he would look into it.

"When the SOF was first introduced, I was the secretary to the committee managing the fund. But I left the BTRC before spending any of it or holding the first meeting. I don't know what happened after that," Bari said.

"But I believe the fund, collected from telecom service providers, should be used to develop the overall telecommunications sector."