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[Bangladesh] Recommendations of taskforce on restructuring BTTB
[from banglaICT]
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 13:18:23 -0000
From: "Sayeedur Rahman" <bangla_ict@yahoo.com>
Roadmap for restructuring BTTB ready
Transformation into state-owned co suggested
FE Report
The five-member taskforce on restructuring the Bangladesh Telegraph
and Telephone Board (BTTB) finalised its report Monday suggesting
that the board be transformed into a state-owned company under the
Companies Act 1994.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Aminul Haq, head of the
taskforce, would submit the report to the Prime Minister and it would
also be placed at the National ICT Taskforce meeting to be chaired by
the Prime Minister. The report called for restructuring the board
within a short time with the government owning full shares of the
transformed company.
The taskforce, which was formed on January 9 this year, also asked
the government to form a nine-member board of directors for the
company and vested the board with full financial autonomy.
It also suggested a roadmap for restructuring the board into a
company and said that, unless the board is given full financial
autonomy, it would lose out in the ever-shifting telecom market.
The roadmap follows the Pakistan model, which transformed its telecom
board into a company successfully, with government owning its full
equity. However, Goldman Sachs, a world-famed investment bank,
planned the roadmap for restructuring the Pakistan Telegraph and
Telephone Board.
The taskforce in its report also recommended amendment to the BTTB
Act 1979 and formation of a separate pay scale and service rule for
the company and an option for voluntary retirement or golden
handshake for the willing employees.
The taskforce, which also included State Minister for Energy AKM
Mosharraf Hossain, Board of Investment chairman Mahmudur Rahman,
chairman of the Computer Department of BUET Abul Quasem and posts and
telecommunications secretary Faruq Ahmed Siddiqui held meetings with
all the stakeholders before finalising its report.
It held seven rounds of meeting with the CBA leaders of the board,
the employees'' union and also met the leaders of the BCS Telecom
Association. All their views were also incorporated in the report.
The report said the government would hardly incur any revenue loss if
the board is transformed into a public limited company.
Last year the BTTB, one of the government non-tax cash cows, earned
Tk 15.83 billion operating profit and paid around Tk 11 billion as
net profit to the government exchequer. The report said the
government earns around Tk 6.80 billion through taxes from the four
mobile phone companies and a rural telecom company in the country and
it would get minimum Tk 10 billion revenue as tax if the board is
made a public limited company.
In its report, the taskforce highlighted how the state-owned telecom
companies in the region brought qualitative changes in their
performance after being transformed into state-owned or partly
privatised telecom
companies. Though the taskforce has not set any deadline for the
restructuring of the telecom behemoth, it suggested that sooner the
BTTB is transformed into a company, the better is for its survival.
The taskforce, however, suggested total auditing of the BTTB''s
assets by audit firms before transforming it into a state-owned
public limited company in full accordance with the government''s
Article of Association. Under the changed setup, the BTTB management
can take loan from the banks, can make its own decision on its
investment and procurement plan and then set its tariff according to
its own plan. (The Financial Express)
====================================================================
BTTB proposed to be a plc
Mustak Hossain
The Restructuring Committee for the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph
and Telephone Board (BTTB) has recommended transforming it into a
public limited company with all its shares owned by the government.
The company will be formed under the Company Act of 1994 to make it
more service-oriented. A nine-member board of directors will run it,
official sources said.
The five-member restructuring body formed in January this year also
recommended a special salary structure for the employees of the
proposed company.
Unconfirmed reports said voluntary retirement could be offered to the
BTTB officials and employees.
The committee conducted a study on feasibility of the BTTB as a
limited company. It found that if converted into a company, the BTTB
would be able to deposit around Tk 1,000 crore to the public
exchequer annually.
Five private telecom companies deposit Tk 680 crore a year.
A top official of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication said the
recommendations would be placed before the ICT Task Force headed by
the prime minister for approval.
The task focre is likely to meet in the first week of July.
Donors including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
suggested restructuring the BTTB to deliver prompt and standard
service and ensure a level playing field in the telecom sector.
The BTTB still enjoys monopoly over fixed line telephony and the
international gateway service. But a plan is there to create a
separate commercial entity to run its mobile phone project.(The Daily
Star)
