Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has relaxed the decision to stop the sale of SIM cards in Grameenphone to protect the market balance. The regulator has allotted 78,000 SIMs to the operator from Sunday for sale of 78,000 SIMs subject to conditions for the armed forces, other law enforcement forces, private organizations and MNP (change of operator keeping the number intact) for other purposes.
The approval was given in a letter signed by the agency’s Deputy Director of Engineering and Operations, Mahdi Ahmed.
The letter says – ‘6 thousand 519 SIMs for armed forces, 21 thousand 481 for other law enforcement agencies, 35 thousand for private organizations (corporate users), 10 thousand for vehicle tracking (VTS) and 5 thousand for MNP services, totaling 78 thousand. SIM has been assigned. No SIM has been allocated for sale to general users.’
The letter specifically states, ‘Numbers or SIMs can be sold from blocks/numbers allocated in favor of the armed forces, other law enforcement agencies, private organizations – only from those blocks/numbers in favor of the respective organizations.’
It is worth noting that, on June 29, BTRC issued a directive banning the sale of all types of SIM cards of Grameenphone. It is said that the operator will be able to sell new SIM only if he can ensure the quality of service to the customers. Subsequently, BTRC approved the sale of 13 lakh old SIMs (recycled SIMs) of Grameenphone. But the approval of the sale of that SIM was also withdrawn by BTRC on November 6. Since then Grameenphone has stopped selling all types of SIMs.
Grameenphone’s senior director of corporate affairs department, Hossain Sadat, welcomed the approval of the sale of 78,000 SIMs and commented that ‘such a ban is against consumer freedom, Digital Bangladesh’. He told the media that LDC will discourage foreign investment at this important time of graduation. However, we will continue our efforts to resolve this issue quickly for the greater benefit of the customer and Digital Bangladesh.