Tarana sends back call mobile rate proposal

The posts and telecommunications division has sent back the voice call rate proposal to the telecom regulator BTRC to revise it as it will charge the end users.

“We’ve sent back the proposal which we think may increase the cost of telecom service using,” said Tarana Halim, state minister for telecom today at her office in Dhaka.

READ MORE: BTRC moves to adjust mobile call rates

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had earlier made a surprise move to adjust mobile call rates which, if implemented, will increase consumers' call expenditure by about 15 percent.

“Our main agenda to ensure better service with low cost and that’s why we’ve sent the proposal back to revise,” said Tarana.

In its original proposal, BTRC recommended the ministry to increase the minimum on-net call rate to Tk 0.35 per minute from existing Tk 0.25, and cut the off-net rate down to Tk 0.45 per minute from Tk 0.60.

Private mobile phone operators welcomed the move though they did not place any proposal before the telecom regulator or the government in this regard.

The adjustment will fetch the three private operators -- Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink -- Tk 121 crore in additional monthly revenue, but state-owned Teletalk will lose Tk 4 crore a month, business insiders said.