A total of 81 companies are vying for five licences to operate Interconnection Exchange (ICX) and International Gateway (IGW) operations in the country. Following the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) invitation for granting licences, 39 companies submitted proposals for ICX licence yesterday, while 42 companies offered proposals for IGW licence the day before yesterday.

As per International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy 2007, BTRC will issue two licences for ICX and three for IGW operations, according to BTRC sources.

The two new ICX operators will work with BTTB in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet and Bogra, sources said.

“To prevent all illegal international call termination, BTRC will finish the licence awarding procedure within a short time,” a BTRC official said, adding that the telecom watchdog will call its pre-evaluation meeting regarding the submitted proposals within this month.

“All voice calls including VoIP (voice over internet protocol) will be routed through IGW and ICX services,” said the BTRC official.

ICX refers to switching system, which provides interconnections among the existing or future telecommunication network of the operators and allows monitoring, lawful interception facilities and roaming number portability.

There will be three IGWs in addition to the existing IGW of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB). All IGWs will be operated from Dhaka.

IGW service is a switching system through which international voice traffic is sent and received. IGW also allows physical monitoring of the traffic flow.

The ICX service will have physical connections with IGW service. The connectivity and related expenses will be borne by the licensees.