BTRC Chairman Shyam Sundar Shikdar has been elected as the Chairman of SATRC on the first day of the 24th South Asian Telecommunication Regulators Council (SATRC-24) international conference based on the opinion of the member countries.
In a conference organized by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday, the heads of telecommunication and information communication technology regulatory bodies of 9 South Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives and Iran, telecom operators, government and 100 (one hundred) representatives including representatives of non-governmental organizations, experts related to telecommunication and information technology participated. In the conference, BTRC chairman was announced as the chairman of this organization for the next year. Council Secretary General Masonry Kondu was present on the occasion.
After the opening ceremony of the conference, Chairman of Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ARTA) A. Barat Shah Nadim (S. Barat Shah Nadim) spoke at the event under the chairmanship of BTRC; Communication Authority of Maldives Chief Executive Officer Ilyas Ahmed (Mr. Ilyas Ahmed); Nepal Telecommunication Authority Chairman Purushottam Khanal (Mr. Purushottam Khanal); Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman (Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman); Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Director General Delana Madhushanka Dissanayake (Mr. Delana Madhushanka Dissanayake); Alireza Darvishi, Director of Communications Regulatory Authority of Iran; Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Secretary V Raghunandan (Mr. V Raghunandan) and Bhutan Info Communication and Media Authority Director Jigme Wangdi (Mr. Jigme Wangdi).
SATRC’s associate member companies at the conference include Aziata Group Berhad, Banglalink Digital, Grameenphone, Robi Aziata, GSMA (Hong Kong), Huawei Technologies, Telenor Asia, Telenor Pakistan, Inmerset Singapore, ITU-APT Foundation of India, Nokia Solutions and Networks India and Thailand. National Electronics and Computer Technology Center hosted the conference.
On the first day, two roundtable sessions titled Regulators’ Roundtable: Regulatory Interventions and Innovations for Sustainable Digital Future were held. In this, the representatives of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated and highlighted the challenges and future action plans of the telecommunication sector of their respective countries.
Four sessions including two dialogues titled Regulator-Industry Dialogue: Spectrum for Future will be held on the second day on Wednesday. It will be attended by representatives of various technical institutions including regulatory heads. In this three-day long conference, a total of 9 sessions will be held on regulatory framework and strategies in the fields of sustainable digital future, digital transformation, broadband network access and quality, digital inclusion, wave management for social and economic development, use of waves in satellite and terrestrial services and 5G technology.
Incidentally, SATRC was established in 1997 as a combination of telecommunication regulatory bodies in South Asia. This organization formulates policies on wireless coordination, standardization, regulatory trends, telecommunication sector development strategies, and regional cooperation and international issues related to telecommunications. The Council holds meetings every year on important issues of interest to the member countries.