BTRC partially lifts ban on GP SIM sale

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has partially withdrawn the ban on the sale of Grameenphone (GP) SIM cards.

The country’s largest mobile phone operator will now be able to sell pre-approved SIM cards that were not in use for over 15 months. But the ban on new SIM card sales will remain in force.

Subrata Roy Maitra, vice-chairman of BTRC, said the decision was made on September 15 as a clarification of the commission’s ban on the sales of new Grameenphone SIM cards, which had been imposed in June this year in light of complaints about poor service quality.

He said Grameenphone would be allowed to sell the unused SIM cards it already has.

The BTRC guidelines say telecom operators can now begin selling SIM cards that remained unused for 15 months or more, subject to some conditions.

This means Grameenphone can now sell SIM cards that remained unused for a total of 18 months as the ban was imposed three months ago.

Grameenphone Senior Director Hossain Sadat applauded the BTRC’s move.

“We appreciate that the regulator has withdrawn the SIM card sales ban to address customers’ needs. We are committed to meeting customers’ expectations,” said Sadat, also the head of public and regulatory affairs.

In July, the BTRC reported 184 million mobile network subscribers around the country. Of them, Grameenphone had 84.08 million.

After the new SIM card sales ban was imposed, the company lost eight lakh subscribers in July.

The BTRC imposed the SIM card sale ban mentioning call drops and low service quality even though Grameenphone had passed a test in this regard conducted by the regulator.