The third generation or 3G network will not remain available in the country from next year as the technology is no longer necessary thanks to the expansion of 4G network, Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar said today.

"We no longer need 3G. Only 2G and 4G services will remain active."

He spoke while delivering a presentation at an event on "5G: possibilities, challenges and way forward" jointly organised by the Telecom and the Technology Reporters' Network Bangladesh (TRNB) and Robi Axiata.

The event was organised to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Robi at a hotel in Dhaka.

The minister also urged the country's mobile network operators to improve service quality.

At a time when the government is pressing full steam ahead with the 'Smart Bangladesh' agenda, the telecom regulator is taking measures that are at odds with it.

On September 3, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission ordered the mobile operators to discontinue three-day and 15-day data packages from October 15, in a move that stakeholders, experts and consumer rights organisations say restricts the freedom of choice.

The move will particularly hit the pockets of the grassroots, low-income and youth segments and is primed to reduce their consumption of telecom services, particularly the internet.

The operators have also been directed to limit the total number of packages they offer to 40. At present, operators offer up to 95 packages to subscribers, whose duration ranges from an hour to an indefinite period.

From October 15, mobile users will have the option to buy data plans for seven days or 30 days. The option to purchase plans with unlimited validity will remain, too.

The BTRC said it arrived at the decision by surveying mobile users, who were in favour of condensing the volume of packages on offer.

The mobile operators maintain that the BTRC survey contained leading questions that influenced the respondents' answers by suggesting responses.

Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar has long been expressing his annoyance over the sheer number of packages offered by the carriers.

"Earlier, they would offer 300 packages. Now they are offering 95 packages. Is it possible for customers to choose from 95 packages and remember those? This takes the level of people's confusion to extreme heights. So, we are cutting it down to 40," he told The Daily Star.

When asked if the move curbs the freedom of choice, he said: "With this, a new system is being introduced to break the autocratic attitude of operators who have been bombarding customers with a web of plans."

Curiously, at the programme on May 30 where the BTRC survey result was shared, many of the customers who spoke said they wanted more packages, particularly targeted for OTT media consumption and students.

Subsequently, the operators vehemently opposed the impending BTRC move and said it is not reasonable "in a world where consumer preference for options is vast and wide-ranging".

"Every product that operators offer is based on an analysis of the diverse demands of the consumers from various demographics," said the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob), the trade body for carriers, in a letter to BTRC on August 7.

The synergy between market offerings and customer demand may be broken if there are any abrupt changes made to the offer modalities as a result of frequent regulatory interventions.

Just in March 2022, the BTRC ordered operators to bring down the number of packages to 95 from a few hundred packages each.  

Subsequently, Amtob urged the telecom regulator to reconsider its proposed changes, which will have "grave consequences on the industry".

But the BTRC went ahead and issued the directive on Sunday. Discontinuing the three-day packs, it seems, is the more polemic among the directives.

A large segment of grassroots people use data for entertainment and other purposes besides connectivity, said TIM Nurul Kabir, a former secretary general of Amtob.

And they mostly opt for the affordable three-day packs.

"If the option to purchase data for a short time with lower expenditure is eliminated, it will be very inconvenient for them. Customers should always have flexibility in choosing options, and denying this would be unjustified," he added.

Asked if the customers who avail three-day packages now will have to spend more for the minimum seven-day plans, AKM Habibur Rahman, managing director of Teletalk, said: "Undoubtedly -- it is not possible to offer the seven-day packages at the same rate as the three-day ones."

As much as 48 percent of Banglalink's 4.2 crore-odd customers regularly purchase the three-day packs and just 3 percent avail of the 15-day plans, according to Taimur Rahman, its chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer.

"Discontinuing the three-day packs will have a huge impact on customers, specifically those who have a limited budget," he added.

Similarly, Robi, the second-largest carrier with 5.7 crore users, has the highest number of takers for its three-day packages: 50 percent of the recharges come from it, while 7 percent come from 15-day plans.

There are more than 11 crore unique mobile subscribers, who have a wide array of demands and requirements, said Shahed Alam, head of regulatory affairs at Robi. Meeting these demands with a mere 40 packages poses a significant challenge for the operators.

"This decision is poised to have a detrimental impact on customers' ability to select the packages that best suit their preferences and the overall cost of their mobile phone usage."

Furthermore, discontinuing the three-day packages will disproportionately affect students and individuals with limited data needs.

"The decision lacks a foundation in data or research conducted by the telecom regulator, and the findings, if any, were inconclusive," Alam added.

Subscribers more often than not fail to use up the data in the three-day packages, said BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder.

"There is an option for customers to carry forward their unused data if they purchase the same package. But many customers were unaware of this and are ultimately deprived."

So the telecom operator is doing away with the three-day packages, he added.

"We are currently assessing the regulatory move," said Hossain Sadat, spokesman of Grameenphone, the market leader with 8.2 crore subscribers as of July.

The regulator can fix the number of packages an operator can offer to reduce customer confusion of customers, but setting the durations of packages is too much regulation, said Ghulam Rahman, president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh.

"It should be set by operators based on their customers' needs," he added.

A regulatory authority should seek the opinions of stakeholders -- operators and customers -- and conduct a thorough survey before making such an important decision that will undoubtedly affect millions of people, said Shahdeen Malik, an eminent jurist and a constitutional expert.

"It would be tantamount to incompetence if a regulator conducts an online survey with only 550 participants for this. I would say it is a misuse of power by a regulatory authority."

Furthermore, if the revenue of mobile companies, one of the biggest sources of government revenue, were to decline, it would have significant implications for public finances.

"It's not that I want the operators' revenue to increase, but from a national standpoint, their revenue is important for the government, especially considering current budgetary constraints," Malik added.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently cancelled the licences of 14 internet service providers (ISPs) for not renewing their licences in time.

The telecom regulator directed the cancelled licensees to surrender their licences to the commission in 10 days, according to the BTRC documents.

The ISPs are: Bornil Network System Ltd, IT Next Technology, Cyber Communication, New Generation Internet Services Ltd, Asian City Online (BD) Ltd, Apon Enterprise, Sparking World Reign ICT, Segun Bagicha Safenet Online Speed Online, Vestel Cable Tv Networks Ltd, Web Solution, Chandpur Net, Airnet Communication.

The regulator declared all activities of these ISPs fully illegal and punishable under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001.

The telecom regulator also warned everyone concerned not to enter any deal or carryout any financial transactions with these ISPs.

The telecom regulator has decided to carry out information system audits into Grameenphone and Robi Axiata in the years since 2015 and form committees to start the process of appointing auditors.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), at a meeting last month, approved the setting up of two committees in order to hire the audit firms.

Two tender evaluation committees for the audit process will also be formed, according to the meeting documents.

The information system audit aims to ensure that the equipment and processes within GP and Robi adhere to the guidelines of the commission. It makes sure compliance with rules and regulations, including the verification of revenue collected by the companies, so that the government receives its due share.

The decision to carry out the audits comes although the claims of the first audits into the operators haven't been settled yet.

The telecom regulator ran separate audits into the two operators from their inception to December 2014 and claimed Tk 12,579 crore from GP and Tk 867 crore from Robi.

The claims include the amounts for unpaid annual spectrum fees, value-added tax, and revenue sharing. However, both operators disputed the sum and claimed that they did not evade any taxes.

The dispute triggered a legal battle between the operators and the BTRC, with the companies filing cases in 2019.

Based on the audit of GP from 1997 to 2014, the BTRC sent a demand notice in April 2019, asking it to clear the payments.

Later, GP filed the case before the district court against the claim. The Supreme Court in November of that year ordered the operator to give Tk 2,000 crore in three months to the commission.

Afterward, the appellate division directed the largest mobile phone operator of the country to deposit Tk 1,000 crore by February 2020 and another Tk 1,000 crore by May 2020. GP complied.

Of the Tk 12,579 crore, the operator hasn't yet cleared more than Tk 6,100 crore slapped as a late fee.

Additionally, it paid over Tk 2,392 crore out of Tk 4,085 crore owed to the National Board of Revenue.

GP did not respond to The Daily Star's request for comments yesterday regarding the BTRC's new audit process.

"We want an amicable solution on the rest of the dues claimed in the audit," Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of GP, told The Daily Star recently.

Out of Tk 867 crore, Robi, the second-largest operator of Bangladesh, paid Tk 138 crore in five instalments by May 2020 to comply with the order of the High Court Division.

According to Robi's annual report for 2022, a substantial part of the BTRC's claim includes the VAT on spectrum fees and VAT rebate/credit cancellation, which are either part of other ongoing litigations or in respect of which the BTRC has no jurisdiction to claim relevant amounts.

"We filed a general petition with the court five years ago, challenging the outcomes of the previous audit. The telecom regulator is yet to respond to the petition. Therefore, we haven't seen any progress on the sub judice matter," Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer at Robi Axiata, told The Daily Star.

"We hope the regulator will take necessary steps to resolve pending issues of the previous audit."

The regulator also conducted audits into Banglalink from 1996 to 2019 and asked the operator to pay more than Tk 820 crore last year.

Of the figure, Tk 390 crore has been sought as VAT, tax and fees, and outstanding dues related to revenue-sharing, handset royalty, access frequency and microwave frequency payments, and the licence fees as principal amount. The rest, or Tk 430 crore, was claimed as late fees.

The operator has deposited Tk 335 crore of the principal amount as of now and will pay the rest of the principal amount of Tk 390 crore in instalments, according to an official of the operator.

Banglalink is trying to mutually resolve the BTRC's audit outcome, so it hasn't filed any case.

An official of the BTRC told The Daily Star that the commission has sent a letter to the government on waiving the late fees.

The BTRC also took the initiative to audit other state-owned and private companies in the telecommunication ecosystem.

It has recently demanded payments from state-run Teletalk Bangladesh and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, asking them to clear dues amounting to a staggering Tk 3,000 crore collectively.