Sources in Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said mobile operators create hurdle in different forms not to offer the services despite the regulator’s directive to do so
The cellphone subscribers in the country have been waiting for seven long years for mobile number portability services to enjoy freedom of shifting from one operator to another without changing a single digit of their cell numbers.
Sources in Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said mobile operators create hurdle in different forms not to offer the services despite the regulator’s directive to do so
The cellphone subscribers in the country have been waiting for seven long years for mobile number portability services to enjoy freedom of shifting from one operator to another without changing a single digit of their cell numbers.
Sources in Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said mobile operators create hurdle in different forms not to offer the services despite the regulator’s directive to do so.
Though the operators were given deadline several times, but they did not develop the MNP system, rather they raised questions about commercial, technical and governance issues.
Currently, the operators are seeking five more years to implement the services, but when contacted officially all of them said they were positive about launching the MNP.
BTRC recently decided to go for a public hearing about the MNP services as the operators failed to introduce the services within the deadline of January 13, 2014 set by BTRC.
The regulator also wants public opinion through e-mail and will publish advertisements on newspaper about it.
The regulator, in a bid to bring about MNP, made a guideline in 2008, but the operators did not pay heed to that though they always say they were positive about MNP.
The process regained momentum in 2012 after the parliamentary standing committee on the Telecommunication Ministry recommended setting up the MNP system within the year.
A senior official of the regulator said within a short time they are going for a public hearing and they also want to listen from people about it.
On this issue, the market leader Grameenphone as usual said it welcomes the MNP services.
“While we welcome MNP, the process requires complex system of integration to ensure a good customer services. We are already in discussions with BTRC to implement the MNP system properly within the shortest time,” Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer, Grameenphone, told the Dhaka Tribubne.
Banglalink, the second largest operator in the country, also expressed its interest about MNP.
It said after launching the modern service the market scenario may not change as it is a multi-SIM market.
MNP is mostly used in business segments and a market like Bangladesh witnesses the use of multiple SIMs, Mikhail Gerchuk, group chief, Commercial & Strategy Officer of VimpelCom, parent company of Banglalink, told the Dhaka Tribune recently.
“But we are in favour of the service as it gives more freedom to the customers.”
He added that in global findings it is seen that only 2% of subscribers change their operators.
“We are confident that our customers will not leave us and our strong proposition will continue.”
But going through the BTRC documents, the Dhaka Tribune found more than 10% subscribers have changed their operators in the neighbouring country of India and in Pakistan.
The BTRC document reads after launching MNP in India in 2011, 8.68 of 86.16 crore subscribers have changed their operators by March 2013 while in Pakistan 1.5 of 12.09 crore subscribers.
Pakistan launched the MNP services in 2007 for the first time in the subcontinent, and currently, there are 72 countries across the globe enjoying such services, according to the BTRC discussion.
“I am very frustrated about my operators’ services, but I have no way to change the number as it has turned out to be my property,” Jamal Uddin, a businessman of Nowabpur electronics market in the city told the Dhaka Tribune.
Recently, the BTRC has formed a committee headed by the secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob).
The committee headed by TIM Nurul Kabir of Amtob estimated that to establish a network for MNP will cost around Tk1,500 crore, but the regulator projects at best Tk700 crore for it.
BTRC officials also said it will take only a couple of months but the Amtob committee seeks five years, which means that the operators are not interested in offering services to their customers.
But one of the mobile operators mentioned that proper registration is mandatory for getting MNP services, but as a whole the country has a problem on the registration issue.
Earlier in May 2013, when BTRC issued the MNP directives to the mobile operators, it also fixed Tk50 as transfer fee.
The regulator approved the MNP service with an aim to fostering competition by lowering the barrier for customers wishing to change operators.
BTRC said MNP will play a significant role in breaking the “monopoly” of some operators, improving quality services in general and narrowing gap in tariff rates.
Earlier in a meeting with the telecom reporter, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose said: “MNP is now a public demand and we will do it for the benefit of the industry.”
He added that it is an operator’s responsibility to establish all supporting infrastructure and create user-friendly market conditions.
According to the world standard, after an introduction of MNP, the code of the operators, for example Grameenphone’s 017 for example, will not remain as its own.
With a mobile number starting either with 017 or 019, one will be able to use the services of Teletalk, Airtel or other operators as well.
In April 1997 and in 1999, Singapore and Netherlands came a head to offer MNP services respectively.
