PM approves mobile number portability

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has approved the long pending guideline on 'mobile number portability' (MNP) that will empower subscribers to switch operators by keeping their current numbers.

The service will intensify competition in the market and push it to maturity, according to telecom experts.

Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, the telecom secretary, said they received the final approval from the Prime Minister's Office and will now send it to Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Commission. The prime minister is also the in-charge of the telecom ministry.

“BTRC will take necessary steps and arrange an auction to appoint a company to render the service,” said Chowdhury.

The service is expected to be introduced in the next four to five months, BTRC officials said.

According to guidelines, subscribers will be able to change their operator without changing a single digit of their existing number at a charge of not more than Tk 30.

They will be able to opt in to the service through a text message, website application or retail service outlet.

Users can also change operators without changing their number every 45 days.

BTRC will call tenders and scrutinise and evaluate the grade of the bidders on their provided information.

Only selected companies can take part in the open auction. In the guidelines, the earnest money to participate in the auction has been fixed at Tk 10 lakh.

The auction base price has been fixed at Tk 1 crore, which was earlier proposed at Tk 50 lakh. The annual licence renewal fee will be Tk 20 lakh, along with a bank guarantee of Tk 1 crore.

The licence will have a 15-year tenure and from the second year, 5.5 percent of the revenue will have to be shared with the government.

Discussion on introducing MNP in the industry began in 2008, after which the parliamentary standing committee on the telecom ministry too recommended the roll-out of the service several times.

Besides countries in Europe and America, operators in India and Pakistan offer this option to their subscribers as well. At present, more than 70 countries have MNP.