BANGLADESH TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATORY COMMISSION IEB Bhaban (5th, 6th & 7th floor), Ramna, Dhaka-1000

No. BTRC/LL/NIX(..........)/2008

Date: 19-11-2008

DRAFT REGULATORY AND LICENSING GUIDELINES

FOR

NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE

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Table of Contents

Serial 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37.

Topic Introduction Interpretations, Definitions and Abbreviations Objectives General Requirements Eligibility Availability of the Licensing Guideline Requirements for Applications License Awarding Process Duration of the License Scope of the License Peering Policy Network Design Technical Requirements Connection and Interoperability Public Works Sharing of Facilities Fees and Revenue Share Information, Inspection and Reporting Transfer, Assignment and Pledge as Security Amendments Suspension, Revocation and Fines Dispute Resolution Franchising Changes in Management Structure Anti-Competitive Conduct and Discrimination Performance Monitoring by the Commission National Emergencies Lawful Interception for NIX IPDR Analysis System Miscellaneous Appendix-1: Definitions and Interpretations Appendix-2: List of Abbreviations Appendix-3: Mandatory Documents/Information to be Provided by the Applicant Appendix-4: Instructions for Preparing the Application Form of NIX License Appendix-5: Application for License of National Internet Exchange (NIX) Appendix-6: Undertaking of National Internet Exchange (NIX) License Appendix-7 & 8: Block and Schematic Diagram of NIX

Page No. 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 18 21 22 23 24 26 27

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BANGLADESH TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATORY COMMISSION

DRAFT REGULATORY AND LICENSING GUIDELINES FOR NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE (NIX)

1. 1.1

INTRODUCTION The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is empowered under section 36 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001 (Act No. XVIII of 2001) (the Act) to issue Licenses for the operation and provision of telecommunication services, and to determine the eligibility criteria and other general terms and conditions of Licenses. Having given due consideration to the principles of transparency, fairness, non-discrimination and all other relevant principles, the Commission has decided to issue Guidelines on Licensing Procedure of National Internet Exchange (NIX) License envisaged in the Licensing (Procedure) Regulation 2004. These Guidelines, along with the terms and conditions of the License, should be read in conjunction with the Act, any subsequent legislation, and prevalent laws or sector policies framed by the Government, and other rules, regulations, decrees, orders, decisions, guidelines, directives and documents of general application issued by the Government or the Commission from time to time. The Act specifically provides that the establishment, operation or use of telecommunication system including radio apparatus and provision of telecommunication services in Bangladesh without a License is an offence, punishable with imprisonment or a fine or both. These Guidelines may be withdrawn, revised, updated or amended from time to time, without any prior notice, to take into consideration various factors including, but not limited to, any threat to public health, National security and of Court orders. INTERPRETATIONS, DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS The interpretations and definitions of the terms used in these guidelines are annexed herewith as Appendix-1. The abbreviations are mentioned in Appendix-2.

1.2

1.3

1.4

2.

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3. 3.1

OBJECTIVES These Guidelines have been prepared taking into account the objectives of the Government to establish National Internet Exchange (NIX) to save foreign
currency for international bandwidth and speed; it will give benefits to customer for saving usage cost and reduce latency for communication of national Internet traffic and domestic contents.

3.2

These Guidelines are intended to provide an overview of the licensing and regulatory framework for Applicant(s) seeking to obtain License under these guidelines to develop, build, own, maintain and operate National Internet Exchange in Bangladesh. No person or business entity shall be allowed to develop, build, own, operate and maintain NIX without a valid License issued by the Commission. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS According to the ILDTS Policy 2007, IIG Licensee shall also have to provide NIX services without separate License. But the Terms of Reference of this guideline is also applicable to IIG Licensees for providing NIX services. The New Applicant(s) shall have to obtain NIX license to provide NIX services subject to fulfilment of all conditions as mentioned in this guideline. The Licensee shall develop, build, own, operate and maintain the NIX as provided in these guidelines. The operators providing NIX services shall have to obtain License under this guideline from the Commission. The following are the principal legal statutes governing the telecommunication industry in Bangladesh:

4. 4.1

4.2

4.3 4.4

4.4.1 The Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001 (Act No. XVIII of 2001). 4.4.2 The Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 (Act No. XVII of 1933) and The Telegraph Act, 1885 (Act No. XIII of 1885), for matters that are not covered by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001. 4.4.3 Any Regulation/Directives/Instructions made or to Commission. be made by the

4.4.4 Applicant(s) shall be disqualified from obtaining a License if any provision listed in sub clauses (4.4.4.i - vi) below applies to its owner(s) or any of its director(s) or partner(s) or any members of the ISPs applying as a group and/or other authorized user or to the Applicant(s) himself:(i) (ii) he is an insane person; he has been sentenced by a court under any law, other than this Act, to imprisonment for a term of 2 (two) years or more, and a period of 5 (five) years has not elapsed since his release from such imprisonment;

(iii) he has been sentenced by a court for committing of any offence under the Act and a period of 5 (five) years has not elapsed since his release from such imprisonment;

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(iv) he has been declared bankrupt by the Court and has not been discharged from the liability of bankruptcy; (v) he has been identified or declared by the Bangladesh Bank or by the court or by a bank or financial institution as a defaulter loanee of that bank or institution;

(vi) if prosecution is going on against the applicant(s) or its owner(s) or any of its director(s) or partner(s) or any members of the ISPs applying as a group and/or other authorized user for illegal voice/data/video/text/mms (multi media system) call termination or for violation of the Act. 4.5 In addition to the mandatory grounds for disqualification for applying for a license referred to in sub clause 4.4.4, the Commission shall also consider whether the applicant(s) satisfies other criteria including but not limited to:

4.5.1 Whether the applicant(s) has sufficient management and financial capacity to operate the activities pertaining to NIX services for which the license will be issued; 4.5.2 How far the issuance of the license will serve the public interest and National security. 5. 5.1 5.2 ELIGIBILITY Operators providing NIX services and any other new applicant(s) are eligible to apply to the Commission to obtain NIX License. The License will be issued by the Commission to the operators providing NIX services and any other new applicant(s) subject to fulfilment of other conditions as mentioned in these guidelines. The IIG Licensees are eligible to develop, build, own, operate and maintain NIX as per their Licensing conditions without separate NIX License. AVAILABILITY OF THE LICENSING GUIDELINE These guidelines are available at www.btrc.gov.bd 7. 7.1 REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATIONS The applicant(s) shall submit Application for NIX License to the Commission in the prescribed form duly filled in, signed and sealed, together with all other necessary documents and information. The papers/documents to be submitted by the applicant(s) shall be as per Appendix-3, Appendix-4 and Appendix-5. Necessary forms available in the Commissions website shall be valid for submitting application. The Applicant(s) shall submit rollout plan of NIX.

5.3

6.

7.2

7.3

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8.

LICENSE AWARDING PROCESS Evaluation of application(s) shall be based on documents submitted by the applicant(s). The Commission, upon evaluation, shall award the license to the appropriate Applicant(s) who shall fulfil the criteria of this guidelines to develop, build, own, operate and maintain NIX in Bangladesh.

9. 9.1

DURATION OF THE LICENSE The duration of the License(s), shall initially be for a term of 15 (fifteen) years. Upon expiry of the initial term, the License(s) may be renewed for subsequent terms, each of 5 (five) years in duration, subject to the approval of the Commission and to such conditions. SCOPE OF THE LICENSE The Licensee shall provide facility for exchanging domestic inter-operators data services among the NIX users either in Multi Lateral Peering Agreement (MLPA) or Bi Lateral Peering Agreement (BLPA). The NIX Licensee shall not restrict any domestic Internet traffic to and from its NIX. The NIX Licensee shall not refuse any new user(s) to connect with its NIX. The NIX shall route domestic inter operators data services and Internet traffic within the Bangladesh territory. The NIX Licensee may provide local contents centrally for NIX users. The users of NIX may also provide local contents to their customers through NIX. The NIX Licensee may connect content provider on agreed SLA. The copy of SLA shall be submitted to the Commission. The Licensee shall commence operation within 3 months from issue of license. Time extension may be considered upon receipt of application from licensee stating reasons thereof, otherwise license may be cancelled. PEERING POLICY Bilateral or Multilateral Peering Agreement for exchanging Internet traffic and data traffic shall be optional among the peering NIX users. NIX operator shall not involve in peering negotiation among the users. There must be a membership agreement between Licensee and the user of NIX. NIX shall operate at not-for-profit basis among the peering NIX users. The NIX Licensee shall develop a cost (CAPEX and OPEX) sharing model including detail analysis based on not-for-profit basis and shall submit it to the Commission for necessary approval. The NIX and IIG licensees may go for peering agreement with International content provider with condition that no voice/IP transit traffic shall pass through the link which will be used to connect International content through IIG.

10. 10.1

10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5

11. 11.1

11.2

11.3

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11.4

The NIX shall not provide any guarantee for peering with any NIX user. The NIX user shall be free to connect with any NIX as per this guideline. The ISPs and/or other authorized users shall have to use NIX for exchanging national IP traffic between/among them. NIX shall be used for local traffic only. Peering ISPs and/or other authorized users shall not announce default route to the NIX.
Depending on the output of MRTG/SNMP based system and DPI equipment and/or other latest equipment, if NIX Licensee understands that International voice/IP transit traffic either in normal or encrypted format is passing through the NIX or detect any illegal use of NIX, the Licensee shall immediately report with related supporting documents to the Commission. To establish peering among the Educational organizations using NIX shall be encouraged by the Licensee by providing incentive price for connection port and other charges. The Educational organizations shall use peering facilities for research or study purpose only. Educational organizations are not allowed to facilitate others for commercial use of this peering facility.

11.5

11.6

11.7

Users of the NIX shall ensure that their use of NIX facilities shall not be detrimental to other users in any way and all usage is compliant with the applicable Internet standards of IETF. The Licensee shall maintain 24x7 hours supervision, hardware maintenance and support service. NETWORK DESIGN The Licensee(s) shall have the facilities to provide National Internet Exchange services to the ISP and/or to other authorised users. The IIG Licensees shall also esablish networks to provide the NIX services minimum up to Divisional Head Quarters of Bangladesh. NIX Licensee(s) shall develop, build, own, operate and maintain NIX throughout Bangladesh and/or in a specific area. However, in providing service to specific area in the country, the Licensee(s) shall ensure the connectivity with own or other Licensees(s) NIX network at respective Divisional Head Quarters or nearest available NIX. NIXs of a particular Licensee shall be interconnected either through existing backbone or as per Infrastructure sharing guideline. The NIX network under one Licensee shall be interconnected with the NIX network of other Licensees on agreed SLA. The NIX shall be connected with the ISPs and/or other authorized users for domestic inter-operators data/Internet services under this licensing guideline. NIX shall not be connected with IPLC and VSAT having HUB outside Bangladesh. The Image of International content like Google, Yahoo, etc may be provided at IIG by the IIG licensee(s). The Image of International content may also be provided with NIX but it shall be connected through IIG. The IIG and NIX shall examine the connection media which will connect the International

12. 12.1

12.2

12.3

12.4

12.5

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content with IIG and NIX with DPI and/or latest equipment to ensure that no voice/IP transit traffic can pass through the content path. 12.6 The Licensee shall install Route Server, Looking Glass, Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD i.e. dot bd) Server (mirror), Root Server (mirror) and NTP server in the NIX. The NIX Licensee should install Root Server from different organization in different NIX. The Applicant(s) shall indicate its proposed technology, network topology and its, designed system capacity in the Network Plan that can be utilized by the NIX users. In case of remote districts other than divisional Head Quarters, the Licensee may start NIX with Switch and Routers as minimum configuration. The Licensee shall gradually implement the NIX configuration as per this guideline within 5 (five) years of issuing NIX license. The NIX Licensee may ask time extension with justification to the Commission. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The Licensee(s) shall have necessary Switches, Route Server(s) and other related equipment including software and facilities to provide NIX services to their users. The user of NIX will be connected to the NIX at their own arrangement including connection media. However, only the remote user of the NIX may be connected with NIX using VSAT-HUB with the permission of the Commission. The ISP shall provide and maintain its own router(s) and switches as per requirement at NIX premises to connect with the NIX Router(s). The Licensee shall provide space for Routers, Switches and Terminals of connection media to the NIX users. The core network of NIX and IIG shall be physically separated. i.e. NIX service shall not be provided by the Routers and Switches, etc. of IIG network in integrated configuration. NIX shall not be connected to PSTN and MSC voice network. The NIX shall support both IPV4 and IPV6 Addressing. NIX shall not assign or provide any IP Addresses, AS Numbers, etc. Peering users shall make their own arrangements with APNIC. The peering user must be identified at the local Internet Registry (APNIC). NIX shall not have any Public Autonomous System (AS) number. The member ISP must have their own AS number and use BGP4 for peering purpose. NIX user shall announce all of its regional routes to the NIX router depending on their peering condition. So, that all users to the NIX node shall be able to receive these routes using a single BGP session. CONNECTION AND INTEROPERABILITY The Licensee(s) shall provide the necessary interface of connection for peering NIX users at the NIX end. NIX systems must be interoperable with the existing telecommunication equipment/system available in Bangladesh.

12.7

13. 13.1

13.2

13.3

13.5

14.

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15. 15.1

PUBLIC WORKS Prior to any installation or maintenance work on the systems, the licensee(s) shall obtain all necessary permissions from the relevant authorities or Governmental departments for works on land owned or controlled by any Government or local authority or statutory body and from the relevant owner or occupier for works on any private land. The Licensee(s) shall undertake and complete all installation and maintenance work diligently observing the need for public safety in compliance with local laws and regulations. If there is possibility of affecting of third party owned property as a result of the installation and/or maintenance work, the Licensee(s) shall seek the applicable third partys consent prior to displacing or hindering with telecommunication lines, gas or water pipes, drains or sewers, or tubes, casings, ducts, wires or cables or other third party property or equipment. The Licensee(s) shall be solely liable for any loss, damages, claims, costs or expenses caused, arising from or in connection with any installation and/or maintenance work in public and private areas. SHARING OF FACILITIES The Licensee(s) shall comply with the directions of the Commission on Infrastructural network and facility sharing. All the licensed operators shall share the infrastructures as per Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines issued by the Commission. The pricing for sharing infrastructure shall be as per Infrastructure Sharing Guidelines of the Commission. Where it deems necessary, the Commission may direct the Licensee to share facilities and/or infrastructure with other Licensee(s) and the Licensee shall cooperate and work with other Licensee(s) to submit plan for sharing of facilities/infrastructure to the Commission. FEES AND REVENUE SHARE The IIG Licensee(s) shall not pay for License acquisition fee or renewal fee to provide NIX service. The following fees shall be applicable to the Licensee(s) acquiring license under this guideline. All fees shall be paid to the Commission in the form of pay order or bank draft. 1 2 License Acquisition Fee Annual License Fee Tk. 2,000 (Two Thousand). Tk. 1,000 (One Thousand) shall be applicable from second year.

15.2

15.3

15.4

16. 16.1

16.2

17. 17.1 17.2

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17.3

License Acquisition fee: The Licensee shall pay, within 10 (ten) days of being notified by the Commission of its approval of the application, as a nonrefundable license acquisition fee. Annual License fee: A sum of Taka 1000.00 (one thousand) payable by the Licensee in advance on each anniversary of the date of the license. The Licensee shall not share any revenue with the Commission as NIX will operate at not-for-profit basis. However, the Commission reserves the right to impose revenue sharing in future. INFORMATION, INSPECTION AND REPORTING The Licensee(s) shall furnish necessary information and other related matters as may be sought by the Commission from time to time. The Commission or any person authorized by the Commission shall have unfettered right and authority to obtain the copies of records, documents and other information relating to the Licensees business, for the purpose of enabling the Commission to perform its functions under the Act and provisions of this guideline. The Commission or its authorized representatives shall have free access to the installations and equipment of the licensee and shall have each and every right and authority to inspect such installations at any time and the Licensee shall always provide all sorts of cooperation and assistance including but not limited to use of suitable office accommodation for the purpose of inspection, tests and monitoring. The Licensee shall maintain and record all type of technical documents, Drawing, Data, copy of reporting form, copy of license and other necessary information as required by the Commission. NIX operator shall maintain NIX user history records, system failure records, SNMP traffic data and bandwidth utilization records of individual NIX user as daily log. All these records shall be made available on request by the Commission or NMC. Licensee(s) shall furnish the following information of each NIX to the Commission on quarterly basis:(i) (ii) The information of the type and capacity of its installations. The number of active NIX users.

17.4 17.5

18. 18.1 18.2

18.3

18.4

18.5

18.6

(iii) The number and type of connectivity. (iv) Pending demand. (v) QoS reports. (vi) Bandwidth utilization data of the system and individual NIX user. (vii) Different type of applications used by the NIX user.

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(viii) MRTG/SNMP based system and DPI and/or latest equipment recorded data of each installation. (ix) The type and capacity of the transmission links owned and taken on lease. 18.7 The Licensee shall submit Traffic data report to the Commission on quarterly basis. The Licensee shall maintain daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly Traffic data in the Licensees website. Traffic Data shall contain the following information but not limited to:(i) (ii) The volume of traffic based on physical port for incoming and outgoing. Number of packets exchanged based on different protocols for incoming and outgoing for individual user.

(iii) Volume of Traffic based on originating and destination AS number. (iv) Volume of traffic based on different applications for individual user. 18.8 18.9 In addition, the Licensee shall also be required to furnish any information on systems and services any time if asked by the Commission. These above reports shall be sent via e-mail and/or softcopy in CD to the Commission. TRANSFER, ASSIGNMENT AND PLEDGE AS SECURITY The Licensee(s) shall obtain prior written permission of the Commission to obtain any loan for deployment of NIX. The License(s) shall not be assigned or pledged as security. This License and any right accrued hereunder shall not be transferred, wholly or partly, and as such transfer, if any shall be void. The Licensee(s) shall not subcontract out any part of the System without prior written permission of the Commission. The Licensee(s) may appoint agents or independent contractors or subcontractors to carry out works or provide services which enable the Licensee(s) to discharge its duties and obligations under this License, provided that the Licensee(s) shall be liable for any act, omission, default, neglect or otherwise of the agents and independent contractors or sub-contractors in carrying out any such works or providing NIX services. AMENDMENTS The Commission has the right to change, amend, vary or revoke the terms in the license, which has relevance for exercising powers of the Commission provided in the Act, upon notice to the licensee(s), informing the reasons for the proposed change and the time, which shall not be less than thirty (30) days to reply to the notice. If no reply is received from Licensee within the stipulated time, the amendments shall take effect on the next day of the stipulated time. If a
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19. 19.1

19.2 19.3

20. 20.1

20.2

reply is received, the Commission shall consider the reply and notify the licensee(s) within thirty (30) days of the reply of its decision to either:(i) (ii) Rescind the amendments or, Modify the amendments or,

(iii) Proceed with the proposed amendments, in which case the amendments shall take effect on the 15th day after the date of the Commissions second notice. 20.3 The licensee(s) shall comply with all new terms and conditions imposed by the Commission from time to time. SUSPENSION, REVOCATION AND FINES The Commission may, in any of the events specified in Section-46 of the Act, suspend or cancel all or any part of this License and / or impose fine as mentioned in Section-46(3) of the Act. The License may be cancelled for any reason(s) including but not limited to those described below: (i) in the event of the Licensees liquidation, bankruptcy or state of insolvency, or in the event that an application for declaration of bankruptcy or similar declaration or order is filed by the Licensee(s) itself or a third party against the Licensee(s); in case the Licensee(s) ceases to carry on business mentioned in the license; or

21. 21.1

(ii)

(iii) in case the Licensee refrains from complying with any decision or written directive of the Commission. 21.2 21.3 The Commission may also impose fine under Section 63(3) and Section 64(3) of the Act for any violation of any condition of the License. In the event of such suspension, cancellation or revocation of the License(s), the Commission may engage any agency or administration at an agreed fee to operate and maintain the system and services in order to continue the traffic through the NIX. The Licensee(s) shall not have any claim for any compensation and any right on the revenue for the same and also shall not bear the cost of the same. Cancellation of License for any reasons whatsoever shall not prejudice other legal rights or remedies of the Commission conferred by the Act or other law for the time being in force or the License. Cancellation shall relieve the Licensee(s) from any obligations accrued and due under any or this License. DISPUTE RESOLUTION In the event of any differences or disputes with other telecommunication operators and failure to resolve the differences or disputes among themselves, the Licensee(s) may refer the matter to the Commission for resolution of the any any not law

21.4

22.

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same. The Commission may decide as it consider appropriate to resolve the dispute and the same shall be binding on the concerned parties.

23. 23.1

FRANCHISING The Licensee(s) shall provide the Commission with all relevant information on proposed franchisees including the proposed franchising area, the background, financial standing and experience of the franchisee, at least 6 weeks prior to their appointment or engagement for approval. The Commission shall review such information, issue directions and/or disallow the appointment of the franchisee by the Licensee(s). The Commission may at any time request for more information on the proposed franchisee or direct the Licensee(s) to provide documentary evidence on various matters including the financial standing of the franchisee. The Licensee(s) shall ensure that its franchisees comply fully with all the conditions of this License and all applicable laws. The Licensee(s) shall remain at all times fully accountable and liable for any act, Commission, default, and neglect or otherwise of its franchisees. CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE The Licensee(s) shall seek written approval of the Commission before making any change in its ownership. Any change in the ownership shall not be valid or effective without the prior written approval of the Commission. The Licensee(s) shall neither transfer any share nor issue new shares without prior written permission of the Commission. Any breach of the conditions contained in this license guideline shall result in cancellation of the license. ANTI-COMPETITIVE CONDUCT AND DISCRIMINATION Anti-Competitive Conduct: The Licensee(s) shall not engage in anticompetitive conduct which in the view of the Commission inhibits or impedes fair competition including exploiting a position of dominance such as to unreasonably restrict competition. Acts of anti-competitive conduct include the following but not limited to: Engaging in predatory price cutting which may be implied where: (i) (ii) a service is priced at less than marginal costs shall be continued for 2 (two) consecutive months only; such costs are likely to be under price competition in the market or shall not deter competitors from entering in the market;

23.2

23.3

24. 24.1

24.2 24.3

25. 25.1

25.2

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(iii) entering into exclusive arrangements between or among operators which deny competitors access to services or equipment. 25.3 Discrimination: The Licensee(s) shall not discriminate or create any inconvenience to any person, group or class of persons, nor shall it give any unfair or unreasonable preference to itself or any other person in, amongst other things, the performance, price, terms and conditions of the services provided. PERFORMANCE MONITORING BY THE COMMISSION Every NIX shall be capable to provide access to the Commission for necessary monitoring of information. The NIX shall be provided with MRTG/SNMP based system to monitor bandwidth utilization and shall install DPI and/or latest equipment to monitor IP based traffic of its network. Access to the MRTG/SNMP based system shall be provided for the NIX user, NMC and Commission. Access to the DPI and/or latest equipment shall be provided for the NMC and Commission. Access to the Looking Glass server shall be open for everybody. The NIX operators shall provide necessary hardware and software to monitor their NIX system including connectivity media to the Commission or provide web based access. The Licensee shall provide necessary Operation and Maintenance (O & M) Control Consoles (Terminal) at the Commission premises for inspection, monitoring and analysing purpose. The Licensee shall arrange the connectivity of sufficient bandwidth to facilitate smooth monitoring. The Terminal must be provided with original software and hardware to properly communicate with the Licensees O & M software. The Licensee shall extend maintenance support and shall provide 5 User license for all the supplied software for life time of the supplied equipment. The Terminal shall be equipped with sufficient primary storage and external storage to maintain MRTG and DPI and/or latest equipment recorded data, Log files and IPDR dump for 6 (six) months. The Licensee shall arrange training programs (at home and abroad) for personnel nominated by the Commission to enable them to monitor NIX and operate Monitoring equipment. NATIONAL EMERGENCIES Licensee(s) shall facilitate and cooperate with all relevant government bodies, departments and official agencies for the continuity of traffic through the NIX in the event of National emergencies or where issues of National security arise. In the event of any war or war situation, internal National disorder (including strikes), urgent state affairs or situations demanding National security, the Government may use equipment and the systems used by the Licensee(s) for
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26. 26.1

26.2

26.3

26.4

26.5

27. 27.1

27.2

Telecommunication purpose. 27.3 In case of National emergency, declared by the President, the Government may suspend any particular activity of the Licensee(s), to the extent that it does not materially hamper the business of the Licensee(s). LAWFUL INTERCEPTION for NIX The NIX system shall be LI compatible. The required LI equipment including its connection media from each NIX to NMC premises shall be provided by Licensee. The required capacity of the LI system shall be decided by discussion between Licensee and NMC. Voice, Video, Data, Text and MMS, etc. communication related equipment used by the licensee shall be compliant as per ETSI ES 201 671 v.2.1.1 and/or CALEA J.25B. Each NIX shall be capable to provide access to the NMC for necessary interception of information. LI system shall be installed with proper redundancy at National Monitoring Centre (NMC) including transmission media, other necessary hardware and software for on-line and off-line monitoring, of each NIX. The licensee shall provide high capacity storage media, as per requirement, to store bulk intercepted products i.e. call content etc at NMC premises. The licensee shall also provide for on-line listening capability of Call Content (CC) and on-line viewing of content as per ETSI and/or CALEA standard. Duration of CC storage shall be decided by the Commission in consultation with NMC. The system shall be capable of sorting and sending data contents to NMC on the basis of the following criteria but not limited to:(i) (ii) Source IP Address. Destination IP Address.

28. 28.1

28.2

28.3

28.4

28.5

(iii) E-mail Address. (iv) Web Address. (v) 28.6 Catchy words in e-mail, ftp, chatting. (vi) Type of services application. The Licensee shall arrange training programs (at home and abroad) for personnel nominated by the Commission to enable them to monitor NIX and operate NMC equipment. IPDR COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM The NIX shall be capable to generate IPDR of all types Internet call to/from every connected route. The format/coding of IPDR shall comply with ETSI and/or CALEA standard. The IPDR shall contain at least following fields but not limited to:-

29. 29.1

29.2

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(i) (ii)

Source IP Address; Destination IP Address;

(iii) E-mail Address; (iv) Web Address; (v) Catchy words in e-mail, ftp, chatting; if any and as required by the (vi) Type of services application; (vii) Other related information Commission/NMC. 29.3

License shall provide an appropriate system to accumulate IPDR at NMC and the Commission. Duration of IPDR to be stored shall be decided by the Commission in consultation with NMC. The Licensee shall provide an appropriate system to analyze all accumulated IPDR. The format and other things shall be as per requirement of the Commission and NMC. The Licensee shall provide necessary storage with capacity, archiving device to retain bulk data IPDR as per the requirement of NMC and the Commission. MISCELLANEOUS The Licensee(s) shall comply with all terms and conditions of the License, applicable legislation including the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001 and any applicable subsidiary legislation and all directions issued by the Commission from time to time. The Licensee(s) shall also comply with the provisions of any existing enactment, the rules and regulations made there under by the Government and/or the Commission, and the changes and modifications including any new enactments as may be considered expedient and necessary from time to time. The Commission reserves exclusive right and authority to explain or interpret any provision of the License, if any confusion arises regarding the actual sense or import of any provision of the License. The explanation of the Commission shall be final and binding on the Licensee(s). Violation of any of the conditions of the License shall render the License to be cancelled. The Licensee(s) shall observe the requirements of any applicable international conventions on telecommunications to the extent that such a convention imposes obligations on Bangladesh unless expressly exempted by the Commission. The Commission and/or any other Government departments shall not be liable for any loss, damage, claim, and charge, expense which may be incurred as a result of or in relation to the activities of the Licensee(s), its employees, agents or authorized representatives. All correspondence shall be in writing and shall be sent to the Licensees registered place of business.

30. 30.1

30.2

30.3

30.4 30.5

30.6

30.7

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30.8

The Commission reserves the right at its discretion to make the terms and conditions of the License publicly available in any medium and format whether on the Commissions or any other official government website, in any manner they deem fit. For unauthorized use of NIX by the Licensee, the Licensee shall be accountable to the Commission. In this regard an undertaking shall be signed by the Licensee in the stamp paper as per government rule and shall be submitted to the Commission at the time of issuing License. The undertaking shall be notarized before submission to the Commission. The text of undertaking shall be as per Appendix-6.

30.9

30.10 The content hosted by ISP and/or other authorized user or NIX Licensee shall not contain any obscene content or promoting gambling or anti-state content, or any other content that violates either the ISP/NIX License condition or any other Law of Bangladesh. For any sort of unauthorized activities related to NIX, the respective License shall be cancelled. 30.11 For any unauthorized use of NIX by the NIX user, the concern user shall be accountable to the Commission and shall be liable to be punished in accordance with conditions of the License and/or any other laws of Bangladesh. 30.12 The NIX Licensee shall maintain the environment where all the ISPs and/or other authorized users can peer each other at any time. NIX operator shall maintain Membership Agreement Form, Connection Application and Disconnection Application Form for the NIX users as standard practice. 30.13 If any condition or term herein is deemed to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for some reason, that condition or term shall be severable and the remainder of the License shall remain in full force and effect.

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APPENDIX-1 DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS Definitions: Unless the context otherwise requires, the different terms and expressions used in these guidelines shall have the following meaning assigned to them. The headings are given for the sake of convenience only and do not carry any special meaning. Definitions and interpretations not listed here shall bear the same meaning as contained in the Act and the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy-2007. 1. 2. Application Form means a form prescribed for applying for the license for the operation of NIX services. Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) is the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia-Pacific region. APNIC provides number resource (IP and AS number) allocation and registration services that support the global operation of the Internet. It is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization whose members include Internet Service Providers, National Internet Registries, and similar organizations. Autonomous System Number (ASN): Autonomous System (AS) is a collection of IP networks in the Internet and routers under the control of one entity (or sometimes more) that presents a common routing policy to the Internet. A unique ASN is allocated to each AS for use in BGP routing. With BGP, AS numbers are important because the ASN uniquely identifies each network on the Internet. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the core routing protocol of the Internet. It works by maintaining a table of IP networks or prefixes which designate network reach ability among autonomous systems (AS). It is described as a path vector protocol. BGP does not use traditional IGP metrics, but makes routing decisions based on path, network policies and/or rule sets. Bi-Lateral Peering Agreement (BLPA), where NIX will only provide layer-2 connection/switch port to ISPs and every ISPs will arrange necessary peering arrangement with other ISPs by their mutual business understanding. ccTLD is the Countrys Top Level DNS (i.e. dot bd or .bd for Bangladesh). Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) usually offers full software and hardware package for Internet Interconnection Exchanges. Connection means the telecommunication network. visible or invisible or logical linking of

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. 8.

Deep Packet Investigation (DPI) is a form of computer network packet filtering that examines the data and/or header part of a packet as it passes an inspection point, searching for non-protocol compliance, viruses, spam,

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intrusions or predefined criteria to decide if the packet can pass or if it needs to be routed to a different destination, or for the purpose of collecting statistical information. 9. Fast Ethernet (FE) is a collective term for a number of Ethernet standards that carry traffic at the nominal rate of 100 Mbit/s, against the original Ethernet speed of 10 Mbit/s in computer networking. Gigabit Ethernet (GE) is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a Gigabit per second. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) develops and promotes Inernet standards, cooperating closely with the World Wide Web Consortium and ISO/IEC standard bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite. It is an open standards organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements. All participants and leaders are volunteers, though their work is usually funded by their employers or sponsors. Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth iteration of the Internet Protocol (IP) and it is the first version of the protocol to be widely deployed. IPv4 is the dominant network layer protocol on the Internet. It uses 24 bit for Addressing. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a network layer for PacketSwitched Internet works. It is designated as the successor of IPv4, the current version of the Internet Protocol, for general use on the Internet. The main change brought by IPv6 is a much larger address space that allows greater flexibility in assigning addresses. It uses 128 bit for Addressing. Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides Internet services to the end users. Lease means providing authority to others for using telecommunication transmission facilities for telecommunication purpose in consideration for a rental. Licensee means a company registered in Bangladesh under the Companys Act 1994 that has been permitted and awarded a license to develop, build, operate, maintain and to lease out National Internet Exchange. Looking Glass Server is a Route Collector. It collects all routes available for global view. Multi-Lateral Peering Agreement (MLPA), where each ISP will simply peer with a route server installed in the NIX. Route server will collect and distribute only the directly connected routes to every peers. Mobile Switching Center (MSC) is the primary service delivery node for GSM, responsible for handling voice calls and SMS as well as other services (such as conference calls, FAX and circuit switched data). The MSC sets up and releases the end-to-end connection, handles mobility and hand-over requirements during the call and takes care of charging and real time pre-paid account monitoring.

10. 11.

12.

13.

14. 15.

16.

17. 18.

19.

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20.

Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is free software for monitoring and measuring the traffic load on network links. It allows the user to see traffic load on a network over time in graphical form. National Internet eXchange (NIX) is the exchange point for passing Internet traffic within the country according to the agreement among or between the ISPs. NTP server is a server to provide Network Time Protocol (NTP) service for the ISP and other authorized users under NIX. Peering is voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the customers of each network. The pure definition of peering is settlement-free or sender keeps all, meaning that neither party pays the other for the exchanged traffic, instead, each derives revenue from its own customers. PSTN is the network of the worlds public circuit-switched telephone networks. Quarter means a period of three months. Root Server or Root Name Server is a DNS server that answers requests for the DNS root zone, and redirects requests for a particular TopLevel Domain (TLD) to that TLDs name servers. Although any local implementation of DNS can implement its own private root name servers, the term root name server is generally used to describe the thirteen well-known root name servers that implement the root namespace domain for the Internets official global implementation of the Domain Name System. Route Server serves as BGP information exchange to other BGP routers. Each ISPs BGP router only peers to Route Server. Unlike normal BGP router, Route Server must have several routing tables for managing different routing policies for each BGP speaker. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) forms part of the Internet protocol suite as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). SNMP is used in network management systems to monitor networkattached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention. It consists of a set of standards for network management, including an Application Layer protocol, a database schema, and a set of data objects. Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) means a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters. Very Small Aperture Terminal-HUB (VSAT-HUB) is a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is around 9.3 meters diameter. It is used for overall control of the Remote Terminal/VSAT network and manages the Hub itself.

21.

22. 23.

24. 25. 26.

27.

28.

29. 30.

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APPENDIX-2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26 APNIC ASN BGP BLPA CCTLD Commission CDR FE GE IETF IIG IPV4 IPV6 ISP IPLC LEA MLPA MSC MRTG NIX NMC PoP PSTN SLA SNMP VSAT Asia Pacific Network Information Centre Autonomous System Number Boarder Gateway Protocol Bi-Lateral Peering Agreement Country Code Top Level Domain Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Call Data Records. Fast Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet Internet Engineering Task Force International Internet Gateway Internet Protocol version 4 Internet Protocol version 6 Internet Service Provider International Private Leased Circuit Law Enforcement Agency Multi-Lateral Peering Agreement Mobile Switching Center Multi Router Traffic Grapher National Internet Exchange National Monitoring Center Point of Presence. Public Switched Telephone Network. Service Level Agreement Simple Network Management Protocol Very Small Aperture Terminal.

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APPENDIX-3 MANDATORY DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED BY THE APPLICANT 1. General Documents/Information: Applicant(s) must furnish the following information/documents (in English) as is applicable: 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Letter of Application (in letterhead pad). Application Form (duly filled in, signed and sealed). Applicant(s) Details. List of Peering users Details (if any). List of the License(s) obtained from the Commission (if any). Telecommunications Sector Experience (if any). Supplementary Documents to Support Applicant(s)s Proposals (if any). Technical Details of the Proposed NIX System including network diagram. Block and Schematic Diagram of NIX are available in Appendix-7 & Appendix8. House-rent Agreement/Ownership deed. Description of existing business. Bank Solvency Certificate. Documents for financial capability to run the business. Undertaking about not as a Bank Defaulter. Certificate of incorporation (if applicable). Memorandum & Articles of Association (if applicable). Trade License. Business Plan. Latest Income Tax Clearance Certificate (if applicable). Information with relevant documents regarding the amount of VAT and Income Tax that the company/applicant(s) has deposited to the Government fund for the last 3 (three) years (if applicable).

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APPENDIX-4 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING THE APPLICATION FORM OF NIX LICENSE 1. 2. The prescribed Application Form as per Appendix-4 is the first and foremost instrument for obtaining License of National Internet Exchange. The application must be made by the Applicant(s)/Applicant(s)s authorized personnel. The Commission reserves the right to reject the application if it is found that the information or documents provided for, in this application are untrue, inaccurate or incomplete. The License shall be granted subject to the payment of License Acquisition Fee and any other relevant fees as laid down in the Licensing Guidelines. All fees and charges for the NIX License shall be as per these guidelines. The License fees and other fees payable in connection with this application and the NIX License(s) shall be paid in the form of Pay Order / Bank Draft made in favour of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. All payments must be made in BDT. The Commission reserves the right either to accept or reject any application submitted without assigning any reason thereof. Consideration for approval of the application shall be based on information declared in the application form. Where it thinks fit, the Commission may seek clarification or request additional information from any applicant/shareholder arising from the application. Any delay in notification or response may also affect the time for a decision on the application. The Commission reserves the right to disclose any information submitted by Applicant(s) to any competent authority if the Commission deems the same necessary.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

8.

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APPENDIX-5

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission IEB Bhaban (5th, 6th & 7th floor), Ramna, Dhaka-1000

APPLICATION FOR LICENSE OF NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE (NIX) A. APPLICANT PROFILE 1. Name of Applicant(s) or Registered name of the company (if applicable). 2. Detail permanent and present address of individual or registered office address of Applicant(s) including Phone, FAX, mail and contact person. 3. List of all ISPs and/or other authorized users under each NIX at the time of Application including updated License number, Detail address, Phone number, Email, FAX number and Contact person. 4. Detail Organogram of the NIX Operator. Separate sheet may be used 5. Detailed proposed network diagram showing all major equipment. 6. Technical specification/catalogue with indication at least following information: name, type, model, manufacturer and country of origin, etc. for each equipment of NIX. 7. List of equipments for monitoring, analysing system data and data storage provisioned for NMC and Commission. 8. Rollout Plan of NIX. 7

Separate sheet may be used

Separate sheet may be used

Separate sheet may be used

Separate sheet may be used

Separate sheet may be used

Separate sheet may be used

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B. DECLARATION 1. Has any Application for License of NIX been rejected before? Yes No (if yes, please give date of application and reasons for rejection)

2.

3.

Has any License issued previously to the Applicant or its any member of the ISP and/or other authorized user been cancelled? Yes No (if yes, please give details) Do the Applicant or its any member of the ISP and/or other authorized user hold any other Operator Licenses from the Commission? Yes No (if yes, please give details) I/We hereby certify that I/We have carefully read the guidelines/terms and conditions, for the license and I/We undertake to comply with the terms and conditions therein. (Terms and Conditions of License Guidelines for National Internet Exchange is available at www.btrc.gov.bd.) I/We hereby certify that I/We have carefully read the section 36 of Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001 and I/We are not disqualified from obtaining the license. I/We understand that this application if found incomplete in any respect and /or if found with conditional compliance shall be summarily rejected. I/We understand that if at any time any information furnished for obtaining the license is found incorrect then the license if granted on the basis of such application shall deemed to be cancelled and shall be liable for action as per Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Date: the Place:

Signature and name of Applicant/Authorized Signatory with seal

Note: The completed application form is to be submitted to: Director, Legal and Licensing, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) IEB Bhaban (5th, 6th & 7th floor), Ramna, Dhaka-1000.

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APPENDIX-6 Undertaking of National Internet Exchange (NIX) Licensee We, (name of authorized person of NIX License)of ( name of NIX License), do hereby state that, we have been obtained a License to develop, establish, own, operate and maintain NIX from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (the Commission) being License No. dated .. Now, we declare and do hereby undertake the following: 1. That the software and hardware of the NIX system equipment to be installed in our premises conform to the requirements of the licensing conditions and guidelines. That the system or software so installed does not allow any traffic to pass through the NIX equipment bypassing the monitoring system. That the software shall not be modified by the manufacturer/ supplier/ any operating/maintenance personnel or any other person to bypass or hide any traffic or other records. That any software change or upgrade shall be notified to the Commission with reasons thereof within 7 (seven) days of any such change. That we shall be solely responsible and liable to the Commission for any unauthorized use of or activities related to the NIX equipment. That we shall be responsible to the Commission for any breach of the above conditions in addition to the licensing guidelines. We further declare and undertake that, if any of the above undertaking is breached by us for any reason, we shall be liable to be punished in accordance with conditions of the License and/or any other laws of Bangladesh.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

On behalf of NIX License,

(Signature, Name and Seal of authorized Person)

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APPENDIX-7

Block Diagram of NIX

Internet IPLC

IIGs

International Content

Monitoring for NMC & Commission

NIXs

ISPs

Other Authorized Users

Local Content

End Users for Data

End Users for Data

APPENDIX-8

Schematic Diagram of NIX

IIG Looking Glass CCTLD Server Route Server Root Server NTP Server

International Content Server

L-2 Switch Administrator Monitoring for NMC & Commission

ISP Routers

ISP Routers

ISP Routers

ISPs and Other Authorized Users

End Users of Data

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