Location tracking launched to curb VoIP

With the aim to curb the illegal international call termination commonly known as “VoIP” to minimum level, the telecom regulator has introduced location tracking system.

The new technology “Telecommunication Traffic Measurement and Anti-Fraud System” is able to detect any kind of illegal call termination along with the accurate call volume, call sources and location.

The regulator, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), has introduced the system following the success of biometric SIM verification that downed illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) significantly, said officials.

BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood told BSS they have started using “new technology” which is working incredibly. “It (new system) is not only detecting the illegal termination, but also locating the place of generating call exactly,” he said.

Using the system, now BTRC can curb the illicit job easily, reveled the chairman.

BTRC officials said they have already conducted around ten drives against the illegal call termination since the new system was introduced 15 days ago, and became cent percent successful in each drive.

They said two foreign experts along with four BTRC officials are working with the new system to curb illegal VoIP.

So far, over 4,000 SIMs have been seized during the operation using the new system.

Before moving to the new system, SIGOS and 3BI systems were being used in curbing illegal termination. But the systems were not able to locate the place or source of originating call, rather it used to give alert about the SIMs that were being used for illegal VoIP. In the system, BTRC after getting detection of SIMs for illegal termination directed the operators to deactivate those SIMs.

Replying to a query regarding decrease of legal call termination, the BTRC Chairman said two factors - call rate and use of OTT (over-the-top) apps are pushing the legal call termination down although call termination rate in Bangladesh is almost the lowest compared to other countries in the world.

“I don’t think illegal call termination has been increased, rather use of OTT apps such as viber, imo, whatsapp has been increased,” he noted.

Now, the country is registering on an average 64 million international calls daily.