The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued a show cause notice to Grameenphone due to an excessive number of call drops. The telecom operator could face a fine of up to Tk 300 crore if it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation.
The notice was issued on July 1.
Junaid Ahmed Palak, the State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, informed journalists of this development after inaugurating the GPT platform ‘G-Brain’ at the ICT Tower in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Wednesday afternoon.
“We have issued an initial show cause notice to Grameenphone. Further analysis is underway. If they can provide a valid explanation, they may be pardoned as they were last time. However, if they fail to justify their actions properly, BTRC can impose fines ranging from Tk 100 crore to Tk 300 crore,” stated Palak.
He added, “We had asked for explanations from four mobile network operators (MNOs) regarding our test drive on July 30.”
The BTRC conducts ‘Quality of Service (QoS) Drive Tests’ to verify the service quality of mobile phone operators, checking voice calls, data, and network coverage.
Engineer Md. Mahiuddin Ahmed, Chairman of BTRC, mentioned that voice and data services on Grameenphone’s network did not meet the expected standards in the drive test. The BTRC is investigating the reasons behind this shortfall.
“If any operator fails to maintain the expected service quality, BTRC will take action. Customers should not suffer any inconvenience,” emphasized the BTRC Chairman.
According to the Quality of Service (QoS) guidelines, there is a provision for up to 2% call drops for voice calls. For call setups, BTRC has set a specific time limit of seven seconds. Additionally, a minimum download speed of 7 Mbps is required for 4G technology.
