Page 46 of 82 47. Interconnection.- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and regulations, an operator may establish interconnection between his telecommunication network with that of another operator. (2) If, in an area specified by the Commission, 25% of the consumers take service from more than one operator, such operators shall have the following obligation in respect of interconnection and providing access to the interconnection : (a) interconnection agreements shall be executed within 3 (three) months from the first day on which the new operator starts providing telecommunication service; (b) the operators shall execute such agreements among themselves; however, on the application of any operator, the Commission may, in consideration of the existing circumstances, extend the timelimit but not exceeding 3 (three) years; and the Commission shall notify, in at least two widely circulated national dailies published from Dhaka, the fact of such decision alongwith a full explanation of the circumstances; (c) the real cost in relation to universal service provided by operators of ordinary or cellular mobile telephone service, shall be fixed and paid at a rate as mutually agreed among the operators; and the Commission may, keeping in view of the particular circumstances, also specify that the operators providing other services shall comply with the cost so fixed in relation to the universal service; and if they fail to agree on such rate, the Commission may fix the rate which shall be followed in making payment of the cost, provided such cost is part of the total cost of interconnection; (d) in determining the terms and conditions of interconnection, the operators shall act in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner; (e) copies of interconnection agreements shall be delivered to the Commission and interested parties; (f) charges realizable for the use of interconnection shall be fixed by way of adjusting the actual cost and a reasonable rate of profit from BTRC-TelecomLaw2001.doc 46 - 46 -