They also mentioned that it is time to take initiative to reduce charges for MFS services. Multiply Tk 1.5 with the number of total transactions of a year, and see how much extra money is being taken, said Shyam Sunder Sikder, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Terming the extra Tk 1.5 charge as theft and fraud, he said: A monopoly business is going on here in the MFS sector. To prevent this, restrictions need to be imposed on significant market powers. We need to investigate how they [MFS providers)] are charging an additional Tk 1.5 for their services, said Abul Kashem, former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank.
Improve service to get tax benefit
Jabbar asks mobile operators
The BTRC regularly receives thousands of complaints against mobile phone operators about their poor service, said Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar. Photo: Star/file Star Business Report Star Business Report
Mobile phone operators should focus more on improving the quality of service to get tax exemption, said Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar yesterday.
Citing call drop, low internet speed and the lack of network coverage, he said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) regularly received thousands of complaints against mobile phone operators about their poor service.
He asked the operators to be proactive in improving the quality of service considering the interests of consumers.
Senior Correspondent,
bdnews24.com
Published: 02 Mar 2021 09:54 PM BdST
Updated: 02 Mar 2021 09:54 PM BdST
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC will auction unused spectrum of two bands on Mar 8. );
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Four mobile telecom operators will take part in the auction at Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka, said AKM Shahiduzzaman, commissioner of BTRC’s spectrum division.
The regulator will auction 7.4 megahertz spectrum of 1800 MHz band in five blocks – two of 44 MHz, two of 2.2 MHz and one of 2.4MHz.
The base price is $31 million.
Of the 2100 MHz band, the BTRC will auction 5 MHz in four blocks with a base price of $27 million.
An operator will be allowed to take part in the 2100 MHz band auction even if it skips the 1800MHz band auction.
Shamim Ahamed, Senior Correspondent,
bdnews24.com
Published: 20 Jan 2021 01:24 AM BdST
Updated: 20 Jan 2021 01:24 AM BdST
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission or BTRC has launched a ‘drive test’ to monitor the standard of services provided by the mobile phone operators. );
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Hamstrung by staffing shortages, the regulator has turned to a private firm to provide workforce and transportation for the test in around 300 Upazilas for six months from January.
The commission will monitor dropped calls, level of received calls, call setup time, call success rate and other indicators of mobile telephony services and make a report, according to BTRC spokesman Zakir Hossain Khan.
The operators will face legal action if their services fail to meet the BTRC standards, Zakir said on Tuesday.
All telecom indicators but data usage are negative
All indicators in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh were in the negative in the second quarter of 2020, except for the increase in internet data usage as the pandemic battered the economy and reduced income, according to a report.
The revenue for telecom operators during the quarter (April-June) decreased more than 8 per cent compared to the first quarter (January-March), a report of the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) showed.
Active mobile subscriber fell 2.4 per cent, internet subscribers slipped 0.3 per cent, call minutes per customer per month dropped over 6.5 per cent and average revenue per user also decreased over 2.5 per cent.