‘Data package bars to restrict customer choice’
There is no compelling reason to reduce the number of internet packages to 40 or discontinue three-day and seven-day packages and such a move would restrict customer choice, said a top official of a mobile operator.
"Regulations typically reflect the demands and concerns of customers," said Shahed Alam, Robi's chief corporate and regulatory officer, in an interview with The Daily Star.
"After establishing a package limit of 95 last year, there have been no complaints from customers regarding an excessive number of packages. Even when we offered 300 packages, customers did not express dissatisfaction with the variety," he said.
He said they design products to cater to over 55 million customers, considering the specific requirements of customers of diverse segments.
"We leverage artificial intelligence and data analytics to tailor our offerings to meet customer tdemands. We also closely monitor and ensure that no individual customer is exposed to more than 5-6 product options," he said.
Operators say consumers should be given the freedom to choose from a variety of options as different users have different needs
"Despite claims of an overwhelming product portfolio, customers typically encounter only around five packages," he said.
On September 3, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) issued a directive, slated to take effect on October 15, discontinuing internet data packages with tenures of 3 and 15 days as well as downsizing the number of packages to 40.
The move has been met with opposition from both operators and experts, who believe that it restricts consumer choices and imposes higher costs on grassroots, low-income, and young users.
They said consumers should be given the freedom to choose from a variety of options as different users have different needs, instead of curtailing the number of packages.
But the government officials said the move comes to end the confusion that customers face being bombarded with so many packages.
And in many cases, customers cannot use the data they purchase before expiry.
In response to concerns about unused data in certain packages resulting in customer losses, Alam said products naturally come with a validity period.
"Offering them without such validity would burden customers. Additionally, our pricing structure considers not only bandwidth costs but also licensing fees and various overheads," he said.
"Consequently, the addition of a validity period is essential. Besides, customers can carry forward their unused data upon repurchasing the same package before expiry," he said.
He thinks these regulatory moves would stifle competition too.
"If one of our competitors introduces new packages, we seek to offer counter or comparable products that attract customers. The primary driver behind the decline in data prices since 2013 has been the fiercely competitive market," he said.
"To date, we have neither identified any valid grounds nor received customer feedback warranting a reduction in the number of data packages or the discontinuation of 3-day and 7-day packages," he added.
He said they did receive complaints concerning the influx of promotional SMS messages that customers used to receive.
"We took action in this regard, implementing restrictions in compliance with specific directives from the BTRC. Moreover, customers have the option to opt out of receiving any promotional SMS messages from us," he added.
Asked about complaints from customers struggling to find suitable packages, he acknowledges that there may be occasional anomalies in this regard.
"However, if you look deep, our product portfolio is designed to cater to diverse customer segments. For instance, sometimes you would see an operator offer a package with 10GB of data for 3 days," he said.
"But some of this data allocation is earmarked for social media use, while the remainder remains open. Many students, in particular, consume substantial data volumes, which may appear unconventional to some," said Alam.
"Nevertheless, these offerings garner significant subscriber interest. Additionally, we have packages custom-made to situations where our network capacity remains underutilised," he said.
Regarding a recent data price increase, he said data was subject to minimal VAT or no VAT until recently. However, the imposition of VAT, effective since last June, has impacted the operators, he said.
"We have gradually passed on this VAT cost to our customers. It is essential to recognise that a significant portion of mobile service expenditures, specifically Tk 56 to Tk 58 out of every Tk 100 spent, directly contributes to the government's coffers," he said.
Asked about the customer complaints about service quality, he said it was imperative to understand that the inherent nature of cellular networks entails occasional issues in certain locations.
"However, we are diligently addressing these concerns. BTRC released some spectrum last year and it takes time and investment to configure this additional capacity across all our sites," he said.
"We remain optimistic that all mobile operators will have completed spectrum configuration by year-end, leading to a notable enhancement in service quality," said Alam.
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