The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has instructed licensed ISPs to set standards for broadband internet services. There, ISP service providers have got the opportunity to give independent packages under the tariff plan. However, the directive for the implementation of ‘One Country One Rate’ in the country states that if the internet service is down for three consecutive days, the service provider will not be able to charge any service charge or bill from the customer in that month.
And if the internet service is disconnected for one day in a row, then 50 percent of the total bill can be taken from the customer in that month. If you don’t have internet for two days in a row, you can get 25 percent of the monthly bill.
The new directive also gives service providers the freedom to offer new packages other than ‘One Country One Rate’ tariff. However, it must be in the form of an approved package and the minimum speed limit must be set at 5 Mbps. Approval must be sought for the new package and the price of this service must be published on the ISP’s website.
However, the commission will take action if any package is given outside of this.
Earlier, three packages were announced in June under the ‘One Country, One Rate’ program. The price of the first package is a maximum of Tk 500 per month, the speed will be 5 Mbps (megabits per second). The price of the second package is a maximum of Tk 600 per month, its speed is 10 Mbps. And the speed of the third package is 20 Mbps, the maximum price is 1,200 Taka per month. Internet will have to be provided at the same price in metropolitan, district, upazila and union levels. This price is set for shared or shared (1: 8) bandwidth.