It is needless to reiterate the evil of free money. Universal Service Fund (USF) has been the crucible of boutique corruption for its complexity. The US Government revived this medieval rent-seeking in the early 20th century to favor AT&T. Today AT&T and other heavyweights siphon in excess of US$4 billion annually from the exchequer. And it has been as legitimate as the Collateralize Debt Obligations (CDOs) in the Wall Street. No wonder the world’s largest democracy has been also sucked into this vortex of greed. Meanwhile, the mobile operators of Bangladesh share 5.5% of their gross revenue with the regulator. Yet the government has provisioned “Social Obligation Fund” — the twin of USF — in the newly amended telecoms law. Bangladesh is the only developing economy in South and Southeast Asia combined, which provides 100% of the population mobile coverage. The penetration is bellow 40% while the tariff is world’s lowest. Yet why another fund? Larry Elkin calls it Universal Slush Fund.
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