Users must be compensated for call drops: Tarana

Mobile phone users will have to be compensated for every case of call drop and network failure, State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim said yesterday.

"We will soon write to the telecom regulator to take effective steps," she said at a press conference organised at her secretariat to mark the government's two years in power.

In October, Tarana gave the mobile operators two months to improve their service quality and reduce call drops.

Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy also asked the telecom ministry to take steps to compensate the users for call drops, she said.

"We want to ensure secured, developed and uninterrupted telecom service, and at the same time, we want the sector to flourish."

Tarana said they have successfully launched biometric registration of SIMs through finger prints, which would help ensure security in the country.

"Biometric SIM registration will be complete by April and after that we will go for other modern services."

The government also plans to introduce registration of mobile handsets and by March it will also go for mobile number portability, she said.

On January 12, government officials will sit with the authorities of Facebook, Google and Microsoft in Singapore to ensure security at the end-user level, Tarana said.

"We will sit with Facebook with the latest updates to convince them to set up an admin panel in Bangladesh."

She also shared the government's plans on how to improve the service quality of Teletalk and how to turn the state-owned mobile operator into a profitable venture.

The government is trying to inject new funds into Teletalk, change its logo and set up more service centres, officials said.

Telecom Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury said they want to create a level playing field for all the operators, so that they can take spectrum in a fair way.

The telecom division yesterday sent a proposal seeking approval of the Prime Minister's Office to hold an auction for 2,100 and 1,800 bands' spectrum, he said.

The operators having a large chunk of spectrum will be ineligible for the first round of the auction, he said.