Telecom as a Social Service, Not a Commodity: Fahim Mashroor

Technology expert Fahim Mashroor has called for Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector to be officially recognized as a social good rather than a consumer product. He made the statement while delivering the chair’s remarks at a roundtable discussion titled Voice for Reform: Reform Agenda for the ICT and Telecom Sector, jointly organized by Voice for Reform and the Technology Industry Policy Advocacy Platform (TIPAP) on Wednesday, January 14.

Mashroor argued that the excessive tax structure on data services and smartphones has been a major barrier to the sector’s growth. Representing civil society, he noted that while around 90 percent of civil society concerns were addressed in the Cyber Security Ordinance, there had also been strong demands regarding personal data protection and data ownership. He said those issues were incorporated into the BDPO passed last month.

He further explained that civil society had raised concerns about cybercrime and online gambling, which he said are damaging an entire generation. Despite multiple challenges, the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) was implemented in response, he added. While acknowledging that there are still issues surrounding NEIR, Mashroor stressed that without traceability of who is using digital devices, from where, and for what purpose, controlling cybercrime and online gambling would be extremely difficult. He pointed out that fake SIM cards are currently being used to create fraudulent mobile financial service (MFS) accounts, a problem NEIR aims to bring under a unified system.

Expressing partial satisfaction with recent policy steps, Mashroor highlighted the heavy tax burden on telecom services. He said that out of every 100 taka spent on talk-time, around 55 taka goes to the government. In addition, a 20 percent supplementary duty on data services remains in place. “From the government’s own policy stance, internet and telecommunications are still being treated as consumer goods,” he said, adding that the state has yet to firmly establish telecom services as social goods.

He also criticized the current tax regime on smartphone imports, noting that recent developments still leave a 15 percent supplementary duty and an overall tax incidence of around 40 percent, which he described as excessively high.

DBTech/MEU/EK/OR