Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) () is an independent group. It was created by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act in 2001. The BTRC controls all things related to telecommunications in Bangladesh, like phone lines, cell phones, satellites, and cable. The leader of the BTRC is like a judge of the Bangladesh High Court.

 History 
In 1979, the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board was created by an ordinance. This ordinance was revised in 1995.

The BTRC started on 31 January 2002. Its goal was to make telecommunication services affordable and to increase the number of telephones to at least 10 per 100 people by 2010. This was amended in 2010 with a new Telecommunication Act.
In 2016, the Bangladesh government increased the salaries of the commission members and chairman twice.

 Censorship 
In March 2013, Human Rights Watch and others criticised the BTRC for blocking access to some websites of "atheist bloggers." One of the blocked blogs belonged to Asif Mohiuddin, who had been attacked in January. The following month, Mohiuddin was arrested along with three other bloggers.

 Chairmen 

+  Sl No. Name Term Start Term End Reference 1. Syed Margub Murshed 31 January 2002 30 January 2005  2. Muhammad Omar Farooq 31 March 2005 15 March 2007  3. Major General Manzurul Alam 22 April 2007 10 February 2009  4. Major General Zia Ahmed  26 February 2009 10 September 2012  5. Md. Giashuddin Ahmed 10 September 2012 22 October 2012  6. Sunil Kanti Bose 23 October 2012 23 September 2015  7. Shahjahan Mahmood 24 September 2015 1 September 2018  8. Md Jahurul Haque 31 January 2019 4 December 2020  9. Shyam Sunder Sikder 14 December 2020 11 December 2023  10. Md Mohiuddin Ahmed 11 December 2023 19 August 2024  11. Major General Md. Emdad-Ul-Bari 10 September 2024  

 Gallery 

 References 

Category:Government agencies of Bangladesh
Category:Regulators of Bangladesh
Category:Telecommunications in Bangladesh
Category:Organisations based in Dhaka