On the initiative of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association-BMPCA, a discussion meeting was held on Monday morning at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity in Segun Bagicha on “Market Competition in the Telecommunication Sector, What to do to Protect the Interests of Mobile Phone Consumers”.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Director General Brigadier General Mohammad Khalil-ur-Rehman spoke as the chief guest in the discussion meeting. He said, the commission will work to create a level playing field in the market. He called upon the President of the Mobile Phone Consumers Association to present the complaints of the customers and recommendations on the matters to be done to the commission. He also said that we are going to hold a public hearing next month. Which will be in 8 divisions. The hearing will also be held online.
While speaking as the special guest, FBCCI Innovation and Research Center Chief Executive Officer (former secretary) Dr. Bikarna Kumar Ghosh said that the village people are happy to use the network despite its weakness. But if you want to build a smart Bangladesh, there is no alternative to increase the speed of the network. He expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister who shaped the development of Digital Bangladesh.
A discussion meeting was held on Monday morning at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity in Segun Bagicha on the initiative of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association on “Market competition in the telecommunication sector, what can be done to protect the interests of mobile phone customers”. Hossain Sadat, senior director of Grameenphone Ltd. said in his speech that operators have many obstacles. It is not true that any one operator is taking advantage here. It should be remembered that each operator’s business policy is responsible for what they are pioneers. And because of wrong decisions, they fall behind. We are working to provide better service. A discussion meeting on “market competition in the telecommunication sector, what can be done to protect the interests of mobile phone customers” was held on Monday in the morning at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity in Segun Bagicha on the initiative of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association.
Robi Axiata Vice President Shah Md. Fazle Huda said that 57 percent of the revenue has been being paid to the government. And some operators in the middle or middlemen have to pay 21 percent. 26/27 we have to run the operation. If there is an asymmetric market system, there is no doubt that if one of the two operators drops out, a monopoly will be established in the market. So, the regulatory commission has to take a decision on the implementation of SMP very soon.
Banglalink Ltd Chief Regulatory Affairs Taimur Rahman said, as a small operator, we are under a lot of pressure. We have to constantly invest and struggle. Implementation of the SMP will encourage new foreign investment or other operators to come into the business in addition to our facilities.
Abbas Farooq, Chief Regulatory Officer of Fibre@Home, alleged that they are being discriminated against in their own market competition.
In the president’s speech, Mohiuddin Ahmed said that once upon a time Citycell used to monopolize the market. After that, Grameen Telecom used to charge 10 taka for both incoming and outgoing calls. Bangladesh is going to fall into that situation again. A single operator holds 52 percent of the market while state-owned enterprises hold 3.5 percent of the market. Because of this disparity, new foreign investment or domestic investment does not want to come in the telecom sector.
Barrister Turin Afroz, advisor of the organization-BMPCA advisor Md. Kamruzzaman, Advocate Belal and others.
