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Dec 15, 2009
The National Board of Revenue
(NBR) recorded 22 percent
growth in revenue earnings
from the telecom sector in the
first quarter of the current
fiscal year, compared to the
same period a year ago.
The sector's contribution
reached Tk 670 crore in the
July-September period, up from
Tk 549 crore in the same
period of last fiscal year.
Tax authorities received Tk
654 crore in revenue from the
telecom sector in the first
quarter of fiscal 2007-08.
Officials said the revenue
earnings from the telecom
sector shot up mainly because
of AKTEL's huge tax payment to
the NBR against the mobile
operator's 1.7 million
customers addition. Presently,
the government takes Tk 800
for each mobile phone
subscription.
Telecom operators pay the
money on behalf of customers,
considering the payment a
marketing strategy to
withstand stiff competition in
the six-operator market.
The industry insiders termed
the contribution a positive
trend. However, they believe
reduction in SIM (subscriber
identity module) tax will
encourage more customers to
come under telecom networks,
which will ultimately boost
the government's revenue earnings.
"We can perform better if SIM
tax goes," said an AKTEL high
official.
Six mobile operators added
37.1 lakh customers in the
first three months of this
fiscal year, which was 22 lakh
in the same period a year ago.
On the other hand, landline
operators added 11 lakh
customers in July-September of
2009, up from only 32,000 in
the same period of the
previous year.
The subscriber addition was
possible, as maximum operators
came back in price war after
the announcement of budget,
said Zakiul Islam, president
of the Association of Mobile
Telecom Operators Bangladesh.
The trade body sees huge
revenue earnings in future
because a big market still
remains untapped in Bangladesh.
NBR statistics show the
telecom sector is the second
largest taxpayer after tobacco
that paid Tk 1,305 crore in
the first quarter of fiscal
2009-10. In the same period,
the gas sector finished third
by paying Tk 468 crore.
In the first quarter of the
current fiscal year, the
government collected Tk
4,456.09 crore against a
revenue target of Tk 61,000
crore. In fiscal 2008-09, the
telecom sector paid Tk 7,000
crore to the national exchequer.
Source: The Dailystar
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