Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is planning to re-evaluate bandwidth prices, and rates of call and internet data packages.
Brig Gen Mohammad Khalil-Ur-Rahman, the director general of the Systems and Services Division at BTRC, shared the development while talking to reporters at a views-exchange meeting at the BTRC office in Agargaon, Dhaka on Monday.
BTRC Chairman Engineer Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, the directors general and commissioners of various departments were also present at the programme.
Khalil said that they have sat down with mobile operators to keep the price of data packages at a reasonable level. BTRC was focused on the packages that customers use the most. The aim was to have the prices of all packages logically decreased in groups one by one. However, the operators reduced the rates later.
“There will also be some changes in the price of bandwidths. We are working on keeping costs down to accommodate changes by consulting with related sector people. Besides, cache servers have been set up in the country. So keeping these things in mind, we plan to revisit the matter and adjust call rates logically,” he said.
He said that BTRC has a call centre with a helpline number 100, through which they have received a lot of complaints from customers who have failed to get any feedback from mobile operators even after filing complaints with them. “We are looking into them.”
“We plan to compile all the complaints we have received in the past year and sit with the operators by mid-March. We will discuss and try to come up with strategies to resolve based on different types of complaints so that the number of such complaints drops and services improve,” Khalil said.
About the offensive or provocative content or statements on the internet, he said that they try to remove such content when law enforcement and/or government agencies notify them. But it’s not possible to 100 per cent remove them as there are international community guidelines.
“In addition, we constantly search and try to block betting websites and apps as well as pornography sites. We have also written to the deputy commissioners of all districts to notify us if they learn about any such websites,” he added.
At the meeting, BTRC Chairman Mohiuddin said that Bangladesh is not lagging in any area compared to developed countries as the country has advanced much in the last 15-16 years. “Today's technology will take Bangladesh much further in the next decade.”
He also said, “We want a Smart Bangladesh. If the tech sector does not advance, Bangladesh will fall behind the developed world. We will focus on making the country more technology-friendly. We hope you [journalists] will help us transform this digital Bangladesh into smart Bangladesh.”
