Considering the strict lockdown combatting the ongoing Corona pandemic, the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Subscribers Association has demanded the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to reinstate the cash server.

In a statement sent to media on Sunday, June 8, Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the organization said that the government had announced a ‘one-country, one rate’ to make internet services accessible and uninterrupted at the marginal level. The announcement set a minimum speed of 5 Mbps and a maximum price of taka 500. Although the minimum speed of broadband is supposed to be 10 Mbps. However, the official announcement was welcomed by general consumers and marginal users. But in addition to this, the BTRC has allowed 129 cash servers for mobile operators, IIGs, NIX and nationwide ISPs by lifting the cash servers from the hands of general ISPs and marginal internet traders, citing national security. Small ISPs have already expressed outrage at the decision, calling it highly discriminatory.

The organization claims that apart from remote rural areas, the speed of the internet is as low as less than one Mbps at some places even in Dhaka, the capital city. Again the network is interrupted at times. The allegations have created a tense situation for customers with local internet service providers.

The president of the organization says that during ongoing lockdown, when it is time to make a living through the internet, the current state of the internet is causing extreme suffering in the life of the citizens.

He added that there is no alternative to reinstate cash servers to get quality services and uninterrupted high speed internet for the purchase of sacrificial animals online during the upcoming Eid-ul Adha. Therefore, I am requesting the government to reinstate the cash server considering the current situation. If the situation normalizes, we will call the regulatory commission and the government to take steps to lift the cash server after creating a national common network.