Add unused mobile data to renewed package: Minister

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar has asked the cell phone operators to add any unused mobile data to renewed packages and resolve the issue of call drop.

“I received many complaints that telecom operators don’t add the unused data with renewed packages. They don’t also return the penalty money for the call drop as before,” Jabbar told The Business Post. 

“The packages that they sell are approved by the BTRC but I directed the officials to extend the duration of the packages rationally and make them consumer-friendly,” he added.

Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer of Robi Axiata Ltd Shahed Alam told The Business Post that as a market-driven industry they are always keen to grow the data market by ensuring affordable data.

“We need to remember that such practices to data pricing are not unique to Bangladesh. Rather, it is a global practice,” he said.

Ankit Sureka, head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability, Banglalink, said Banglalink customers can already avail the facility of carrying forward the unused data and add to the next data purchase.

“If a customer buys a new data pack before the expiration of another, and if they both have the same validity period, the unused data of the previous one will be carried forward to the latter,” he said. 

Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users Association President Mohiuddin Ahmed blamed BTRC for failing to set internet prices on mobile phone operators.

“With the amount of spectrum currently available for mobile operators, it is not possible to meet the minimum speed limit of 7 Mbps set for 4G services under the BTRC regulations,” he claimed.

“Where mobile phone operators need at least 100 MHz, the available average is 39.15 MHz. In countries where the speed of 4G service is better, the allocation of spectrum is much higher,” Ahmed added.

Complaining of monopoly business, he said, “There are many middlemen in this sector. Only 2 NTTN companies have occupied the field. Everyone is making a profit for themselves. The customers become the victim at the end of the day.”

Jabbar assured the introduction of a new telecommunication monitoring system which would make it possible to find out the weaknesses of the telecom sector, incorporating the suggestions of the stakeholders.