10,000 people put to suffer

Around 10,000 people of Gulshan-2 area were affected by the suspension of mobile services at BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's office yesterday, according to industry officials.

There was no network coverage within a half-kilometre radius of the BNP chief's office, an official of a mobile operator said around 3:00pm yesterday.

All modes of wired and wireless communication -- mobile, internet and land phone lines -- were snapped at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office sometime between 8:00am and 3:30pm yesterday.

The action affected users in nearby areas due to shutting down of network equipment.

Grameenphone in a statement said: “On Saturday, January 31, 2015, at 3:38am Grameenphone and other mobile and WiMAX operators received a written directive from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to restrict access to all mobile services [voice and data] to a specific address in Gulshan-2, Dhaka. The directive is based on 'security reasons' and until further notice. Due to this restriction, Grameenphone's customers in some part of the Gulshan-2 area of Dhaka may experience disruptions on mobile services.”

The Daily Star reached out to BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose over the phone, but he declined to comment.

Our reporter stationed outside Khaleda Zia's office said he had to go either to Gulshan 2 intersection or near Baridhara Lake to make or receive mobile phone calls after 2:00pm yesterday.

“Teletalk users, however, could make calls,” he said.