The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued a call for end-users to submit their opinions on the issue of mobile number portability (MNP), with a deadline for comments of 20 December 2014, and a BTRC official told the Financial Express that immediately afterwards the regulator will consult with mobile operators and other telecoms experts to gain their views and proposals on implementing the system. The official noted that the BTRC had previously hoped operators could introduce an MNP system by early-2014 but little progress was made, while the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) argued that it would be a costly and complex process for the operators. The official added: ‘Establishment of the infrastructure for the MNP system might take seven to eight months in a country like Bangladesh where nothing is ready,’ while disagreeing with the operators’ mooted timeframe of ‘five years’. By the regulator’s reckoning, some 72 countries including neighbours India and Pakistan have already adopted MNP, which it flagged up as a driver of competition.
