BTRC to buy equipment to gauge telecom services
The telecom regulator is set to purchase a number of equipment that will allow it to assess the quality of the voice, data and video services offered by operators.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has already floated an international tender to purchase the equipment, which is estimated to cost Tk 4 crore.
Companies can take part in the tender by depositing $10,000 and the bids will open on May 8.
The regulator wants to have the equipment up and running by June, and before that, the related guidelines will be finalised, said BTRC officials.
The devices will initially hold SIM cards of the six mobile phone operators and two WiMax connections and can be transported to even the most remote areas of the country to collect information on service quality.
“We are concerned about the call drops and the quality of services. We will address the whole issue,” said Shahjahan Mahmood, chairman of BTRC.
Earlier in January, the BTRC directed all mobile phone operators to compensate their subscribers for service disruptions. But the mobile phone operators ignored the directive altogether and urged the regulator to hold consultations.
Mahmood said the BTRC will be tough on the issue and a solution is expected this week.
Earlier in October last year, Tarana Halim, state minister for telecom, gave the operators two months to improve the service quality.
The situation is yet to take a turn for the better.
Senior officials at the engineering and operation division at the BTRC said they can currently request the operators to improve their service quality. But once the quality-mea-suring equipment is in place, they will publish their findings and fine the operators who offer substandard services.
Earlier, the regulator ran field studies in different districts and upazilas but the findings were not reliable as it was a manual process and mainly based on user interviews.
“That was not a successful study and that is why we need to buy the service-assessing equipment,” said an official working on the issue.
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