Staff Correspondent, The Daily Star
Mobile phone users in Bangladesh incurred a loss of nearly Tk 18.50 crore in the fiscal year of 2020-21 because of the telecom operators’ reluctance to compensate them for the disruptions they faced during calls.
The telecom regulator plans to set new standard for 4G and broadband internet speed as part of its move to ensure much-needed faster digital connectivity for the users across the country.
Robi Axiata and Banglalink are in the final phase of negotiations to sell their towers in order to cut maintenance costs.
The telecom ministry has decided not to shut down the network of any mobile handset whatever or not it is registered with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Monday night’s six-hour Facebook outage hit thousands of F-commerce entrepreneurs in the country as they neither could promote their products nor make deals during that period.
Robi Axiata Ltd and Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd were fined Tk 10 lakh each for providing telecom value-added service (TVAS) to customers through unauthorised firms and attempting to dodge revenue.
The telecom regulator blocked 81,868 new handsets as of Saturday evening from connecting to mobile networks as the devices were not registered with the National Equipment Identity Register.
Illegal handsets will not get network connectivity from today as the government look to curb the menace of duty-dodging while importing mobile phones, which also undercuts the competitiveness of the locally assembled devices.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has launched a drive to crack down on the telecom value-added service providers that stealthily activate service on the phones of customers without their consent.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has initiated an investigation into allegations of graft in a project of state-run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd.
International incoming call operators may soon become a thing of the past in Bangladesh because of the increasing use of social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Imo, Viber, and Facebook Messenger.
Last week, Grameenphone and Robi were involved in an intense battle to buy five megahertz of spectrum in 2100 band during an auction.