Grameenphone whips up a price war

Mobile carriers are bracing for a price war and this time it is centring on the coronavirus pandemic as they are offering free voice call minutes and bonus data packs through publicity gimmicks that are being overlooked by the regulator on humanitarian grounds.

Grameenphone, the market's leading operator, on Friday announced a series of initiatives, and one of them is 10 crore free minutes to 1 crore customers (10 minutes per user) who could not recharge in April and have a mere balance.

Some carriers complain that in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh, they had approached the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) seeking permission to give away free minutes.

But their requests were not entertained citing voice call regulation.

Now, the move to allow Grameenphone to come up with similar offers has raised the eyebrows from the other operators and prompted them to contact the telecom minister about the issue.

"We have already distributed the free minutes to more than one crore users. which will keep them connected to their near and dear ones," said Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, during a virtual media briefing on Friday.

Also, Grameenphone has introduced a Tk 0.48 per minute call rate from 8 am to 12 pm for its 7.5 crore customers. According to the voice call regulation, no operator can charge less than Tk 0.45 per minute.

The government, however, would not look into the rules right now, said Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar.

"Humanitarian service is our priority and rules and regulations will be the second priority. If any other operator is interested in giving away free minutes to their customers, they are welcome," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The minister acknowledged that Grameenphone is an operator with significant market power (SMP) and this pricing gimmick might help the carrier.

"At the same time, you will also need to consider that Grameenphone has come forward to stand by the people."

Jabbar, however, said he did not know why the BTRC did not allow others to roll out similar initiatives.

Contacted, Md Jahurul Haque, chairman of the commission, said: "I need to check the regulations and what our officers did. We want customers to get cheap service, but at the same time rules need to be followed."

Price is a huge issue and it might adversely affect other carriers, he said. "So, we need to look into it."

Grameenphone said it had approvals from the regulator about the offers and would bear all the charges applicable to revenue sharing, interconnection and the National Board of Revenue.

"Now is the time for all of us to come forward and help the government in fighting the crisis," the country's leading mobile operator said in a statement.

Grameenphone's partnership with the government in the fight against coronavirus started with the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) hotlines 333 and 16236.

Robi said it is sad to see that an operator is disguising its market-driven initiatives under the guise of corporate social responsibility.

"As a socially responsible company, we took a conscious call not to promote our market-driven initiatives as corporate responsibility initiative, as that would not be an honest portrayal of our commitment to our society in crisis," said Shahed Alam, the chief corporate and regulatory officer at Robi.

"In this backdrop, we are very sad to see that an operator is choosing to exploit the prevailing sentiment in the society around the crisis by dressing up their market-driven initiatives into corporate responsibility ones," he said. 

Since the telecom minister has asked the other players to come up with similar offers, carriers like Robi are now getting their package ready, said an industry insider requesting anonymity.

Robi, the country's second-largest market operator, has been introducing offers at a significantly reduced price from the very early days of the pandemic to help customers stay connected during the crisis, it said.

"With regards to other offers in the market, our offer is unmatchable in terms of cost-value proposition," Alam added.

Another senior executive of an operator expressed his shock that an SMP operator could get the approval for a campaign that can destabilise the market.

"We had designed a special package to mark the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, but the regulator refused to give the permission saying it is not permitted under the price regulation," he said, requesting anonymity.

The disagreement between Grameenphone and other operators is not new.

A few days ago, three operators requested the BTRC to allocate free spectrum for three months to serve the customers. The Telenor subsidiary opposed the move.

"Grameenphone has financial power and it is trying to create a situation that will corner other operators," the executive said.

Its commitment to the COVID-19 response carries a total value of Tk 100 crore, said the operator on Friday.

The Grameenphone CEO also declared the carrier's continued support to the frontline medical workers and offered monthly 30GB data to the registered doctors of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) with a token Tk 1 per month for the next six months.

Currently, there are 25,000 doctors certified by the DGHS.

Grameenphone internet users will get 100 per cent bonus every week on all data packs if they purchase it using the app. The operator has announced a Tk 10-crore safety net credit scheme for the affected retailers.

"This is a test for all of the citizens to be united to tackle the ongoing challenges. Our role has never been this critical before in serving this nation. No one has ever predicted this crisis and how it may take a toll on our lives. It is high time to come together, with patience, understanding and compassion," Azman said.