Apart from the name, there has been no change at all in the first year of state-owned Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited as a public limited company, according to concerned people.
The government-appointed chief executive of the organisation, however, disagrees with them arguing that things have changed for better after BTCL became a company. Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board was turned into a company one year ago and named BTCL with an aim to become a core business organisation and provide better service.
BTCL made its debut as a public limited company on July 1, 2008, during the military-backed caretaker government. The company was valued at Tk 15,000 crore and 12,636 employees of BTTB were automatically absorbed. ‘I do not see any qualitative change. Only the name has changed. It is still a government organisation that has no accountability,’ Abdul Karim, a subscriber told New Age.
When contacted, some other subscribers said that there has been no visible change in terms of service. The said like BTTB, the organisation, particularly in the capital city, still take long time to care about customers’ complaints and take long time to give new connections. They, however, mentioned that they enjoyed competitive call rates for local calls. Some people also admitted that the services of BTCL has been improved in towns outside Dhaka.
Parliamentary standing committee on ministry of posts and telecommunications, collective bargaining agent of BTCL, trade union belonging to the ruling party and officers’ association are also of the opinion that there has not been any visible change in the first year of the company.
‘There is no visible change. Though turned into a company it is still a government organisaion,’ said Hasanul Huq Inu, the chairman on the standing committee on the ministry of posts and telecommunications. He said, ‘Organogram could not be fixed, as BTTB was turned into company hurriedly by the caretaker government. It is running on an ad-hoc basis. There is also no financial guideline.’
Inu said that the demand of the time would not be met until BTCL’s emergence as a full-fledged company and there has been an offer from the ministry for merger of BTCL, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited and TeleTalk Bangladesh before enacting a law to make BTCL a full-fledged company. ‘Discussions are on in the standing committee about the proposal,’ he added.
MA Majid, the acting CBA president and leader of BNP-backed trade union, said, ‘There has been no achievement in last one year. Rather, revenue has fallen. Although, call rate has been reduced drastically the number of subscribers has not increase.’ Replying to a question, he said that the customer service has not been improved after turning BTTB into a company and ‘we did not get what we wanted from the company.’ Majid said that gradually the company would be privatised and many employees fear of job losses as a result of that.
SMA Mukit, general secretary of Awami League-backed Bangladesh T and T Sramik Karmachari Federal Union, does not also see any achievement of the company in previous year. ‘Here, everything is going on like any government organisation. Turning BTTB into a company is the first step towards privatisation. The way BTTB was turned into a company was illegal,’ he said. ‘We do not want privatisation. We want to stay as government employees,’ Mukit said.
About the first year as a public limited company, the president of the officers’ association, Kalim Ullah, said, ‘I do not see any visible improvement. Many issues are still unsettled including that of pension of the officers.’ The chief executive of BTCL, however, claimed that things have changed for better in the first year as a public limited company.
‘Comparing with the previous year, revenue has increased. The company will register highest amount of revenue in the out going fiscal year,’ said the managing director, SM Khabiruzzaman. Replying to a question, he said, ‘According to our estimate, the company will make profit from Tk 1,200 to 1,400 crore of which we will have to make a payment of Tk 400-500 crore to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited.’
To another question, the managing director informed that in the past fiscal year (2007-08), the company, which was BTTB at that time, incurred loss of Tk 100 crore. Besides, he said that projects worth Tk 3,000-3,500 crore have been undertaken since the organisation’s debut as a company.
Khabiruzzaman said after becoming a company decision making got easier than before and expenditure has reduced. He also claimed that the problems of subscribers are now addressed more quickly.
-New Age