The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has amended the licensing guidelines for international terrestrial cable (ITC) operators, raising the gross revenue sharing requirement from 1 percent to 3 percent.

Under the revised terms, ITC licensees must now pay 3 percent of their annual audited gross revenue on a quarterly basis, with payments due within the first 10 days of the following quarter.

The total amount will be reconciled annually based on audited financial statements.

If an underpayment is identified, the balance must be cleared within 90 days of the financial year-end. In the case of overpayment, licensees can adjust the excess amount against future quarterly payments.

The BTRC retains the authority to revise the revenue-sharing percentage at any time, and all ITC operators are required to comply with such changes.

This move comes as ITC operators enjoy one of the lowest revenue-sharing rates with the regulator compared to other players in the internet ecosystem.

BTRC Chairman Md Emdad ul Bari said the revenue-sharing rate was increased to bring balance to the market as submarine cable companies are required to provide 3 percent in revenue sharing.

He added that ITC operators have been enjoying undue benefits.

Md Arif Al Islam, CEO of Summit Communications, the largest ITC operator, said they would comply with the government's decision.

He added that they would consult Bharti Airtel and Tata, from whom they procure wholesale bandwidth, to negotiate price reductions to absorb this impact.

The ITC operators bring bandwidth via fibre optic cables from India.

Currently, seven ITC operators supply most of the country's 6,500 Gbps bandwidth demand from India.