Greeting the new data guideline
In today's modern era, most parents have concerns about their children's screen time. While we delude ourselves saying the problem is mainly with the new generation and is still reversible, the real test would be to spend a day or a week without a smartphone with all its goodies like Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc! Forget about the kids; try it on yourself first. Your misery is likely to melt the heart of even your Creator!
Internet has inarguably become a critical part of modern life. If used with the right objectives, its benefits can impact our personal, social, and professional lives immensely. In our socially and economically diverse society, it removes the division in access to knowledge, communication, entertainment, and the fruition of creativity. Moreover, it undoubtedly makes daily life more convenient and efficient.
Recently, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has published a proposed internet guideline, which is expected to have a significant impact on internet users.
According to the proposed guideline, the maximum duration of special day packages would be extended to seven days, up from the previous three days. The validity of all packages offered by operators will now be either seven days or, 30 days, or unlimited. Furthermore, each operator will now be limited to offering 40 packages only, down from 85 previously. A welcome move, indeed!
However, it comes as no surprise that the operators are strongly against the proposal, claiming it would curtail the consumers' freedom of choice while sidetracking their obvious worry of losing out on profits.
According to the Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2023 report by Cable.co.uk, 1 GB of mobile data in Bangladesh costs $0.23, India $0.16, Pakistan $0.12, and Sri Lanka $0.09.
Bangladesh is ranked the worst in pricing against other comparable South Asian countries. Also, the basis of data or internet per GB calculation in Bangladesh is misleading as users pay for voice and SMS separately.
In India, on the other hand, all data packages include voice and SMS, and their package validity offers 28 days, 84 days, and 365 days, as in most developed countries. However, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have similar regulations as Bangladesh and henceforth can't be a good benchmark.
Bangladesh's high internet pricing is mainly due to factors such as high taxes, spectrum prices and a complex and disintegrated licencing ecosystem. Despite these issues, the target should be affordable prices with a goal to reach a new height of digitalisation.
Price regulation is not required in a competitive market unless SMP (significant market power) players abuse it. Therefore, the BTRC should focus more on the quality of services and driving the telco ecosystem nationwide.
Price regulation is an outdated practice. The regulator should refrain from it if it genuinely wants sustainable public welfare. In fact, it is now time to remove voice price protection for operators as it has proven to be counterproductive and instead focus more on the internet penetration process, which is directly linked to economic development.
The BTRC's proposal is clearly designed to benefit consumers. In the next phase, the package validity period should be monthly, quarterly and annually.
The commission should also empower the operators to contribute to it by removing all the regulatory obstacles. It is important that BTRC's actions are purpose-driven to avoid situations like the poor 4G device ecosystem, forcing consumers to pay for voice and SMS.
The National Board of Revenue should reduce the direct tax burden on consumers to make it more affordable.
The US president once said, "It is dangerously destabilising to have half the world on the cutting edge of technology while the other half struggles on the bare edge of survival."
Bangladesh must fix the basics of technology - internet pricing, speed, and coverage, for we simply can't afford to be a part of the latter half.
The author is founder and managing director of BuildCon Consultancies Ltd
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