How not to privatize
By Techgirl

I have been reporting on India’s Telecom sector for at least 5 years now.  While the Government and business nexus has ensured some partiality and questionable deals, overall India has a free market in every sense of the word. Both the BJP and Congress have many ideologues who acted in the belief that private sector works best.

Our highly regarded Prime Minister, in his previous role as a Finance Minister, was instrumental in opening up the markets.  BJP continued the momentum. And Congress again picked up the baton once they got back into power.

If you want to see how privatization leads to the benefit of only some cronies look no further than our neighbours – Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Aamir Attaa taught at Cambridge and has written for a number of international media houses.  Aamir Attaa has written in great detail about how in 2005,  26% of Pakistan’s national telecom company Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) was sold for 2.6 billion dollars to UAE-based Etisalat, but the Government may have lost 1.2 billion at the end of the deal.

It is the same sad story from Bangladesh.  While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) does its role of keeping our Telecoms honest in the service of Indian phone users, its counterpart in Bangladesh is getting into the business of launching satellites. In affect, the Bangladesh regulator BTRC will be a business as well as regulator of the Telecom business.  Not surprisingly, the national Telecom organizations of Pakistan and Bangladesh are filled with retired military Generals.

Lirneasia is reporting that while the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that there is only limited demand for commercial space launch services, Bangladesh may spend $200 million developing such a satellite service.  Apparently, a retired Bangladesh Army Chief had the same vision 10 years ago, and even wanted to name the first Bangladesh satellite after the country’s founder – Bangabandhu 1.

Techgoss accessed the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) website and found that the Government was advertising for a ‘local consultant’ to set up the satellite system to establish a ‘telecommunications network’.  The candidate should be at least a graduate although a PhD is preferred. 

While the BTRC wants to go to space, it is not email friendly.  The guy or girl applying to head Bangladesh’s satellite division should submit a hard copy resume and take note that ‘The position applied for i.e. Satellite Consultant (Local) should be clearly written on the top of the envelope, application including curriculum vitae and a resent passport-size photograph should be sent to the Director (Spectrum Management) Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), IEB Bhaban (5th, 6th & 7th Floor), Ramna, Dhaka-1000. Applications should reach BTRC on or before 17.00 pm, 15th January 2009. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Submitted documents will not be returned to the applicants.’

That’s how satellites are launched in some countries. And this was what India was when I was growing up as a child in the 1980s. 

Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com