The telecom regulator has issued a show-cause notice to Grameenphone for "not using the allocated spectrum", affecting the quality of service used by more than 43 percent of the country's mobile phone subscribers.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for telecom and ICT, shared this while speaking to reporters after an event at ICT Division yesterday.

He said that there was a meeting between officials of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile phone operators on June 30, where the preliminary report of the BTRC's test drive was presented.

At the meeting, Palak informed operators that they had not been using the allocated spectrum.

"We asked the BTRC chairman why they did not do it as promised. In response, he said that in this case, there is scope to fine them. That is why, as per the legal process, we first issued a show-cause notice to Grameenphone," he said.

"If they give a proper explanation, they will be forgiven this time. If not, the BTRC can fine them Tk 1 crore to Tk 300 crore."

He added that they were also scrutinising other operators.

Sharfuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, head of communication of Grameenphone, said, "We have received the notice yesterday and will respond to the BTRC in due time."

Spectrum enables wireless communication by providing radio frequencies for data transmission and is crucial to enhancing network capacity, reducing congestion and improving service quality.