Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has taken initiatives to redefine the cost of talking on mobile phones. Now the same mobile phone operator has the lowest cost of talking with its customers (on-net) 25 paisa, which can now be increased to 35 paisa. Again, other operators (off-net) wants to reduce the cost of calling 60 paisa to 45 paisa. At the same time, the BTRC has proposed to reduce the maximum price of calls from mobile phones to one and a half rupees.
These decisions have been taken at a recent BTRC commission meeting. The decision has been sent to the Postal and Telecommunications Department for final approval. After approval of post and telecommunication department it will be sent to finance ministry. Because, the decision of the government's income-expenditure involved with this decision. According to the call rate revision, the overall revenue of the telecommunications sector will increase, the BTRC believes. However, if there is a negative attitude from the stakeholders, it has been said by the regulator that it has the scope to review these decisions.
At present, the minimum call limit for mobile phone is 25 paisa, and the maximum limit is Tk. 2 In other words, the operator sets the price of calls to different packages. If the BTRC's new proposal is implemented, the minimum and maximum limit of the call rate will be 35 paisa and 1 rupee 50 paisa respectively.
According to BTRC's proposal, call-on-net calls, that is, if the subscriber calls on his own network, he will only go to the operator concerned. And in the case of off-net calls, operators can call the network as per the existing rules, they can get 18 paisa per minute. Apart from the calls made from the operators' network, the Interconnection Exchange (ICX) will get 4 paisa as before. That means the main operator will be 22 paisa for off-net call.
Talking to the stakeholders, if the new decision to change the call rate changes, the cost of calling small operators to large operators will be reduced. For example, to make a call from Teletalk to Grameenphone, now the minimum cost is 60 paisa. It will now be reduced to 45 paisa. In this, the lenght operators will get comparative advantage in the number of subscribers. Although the off-net call will reduce the number of small operators. Because, for this type of call, the remaining 38 paisa is now excluded from the cost of 22 paise. If the new rules come into effect, the income will be reduced to 23 paisa.
According to BTRC, currently Teletalk's subscriber base is 37 lakh, which is the lowest among the operator operators. Grameenphone has more than 5 crore 93 lakh subscribers. Apart from Airtel, Robi has 3 crore 50 million subscribers and Banglalink has 3 crore 13 lakh subscribers.
Asked about the mobile phone operators' association Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) Secretary General TI Nurul Kabir said in the first light, Amtab agreed with the BTRC's proposal to increase the call rate. Because, the voice call rate in Bangladesh is the lowest in the world. If it is a little rearranged, it will be good for all parties. And if the call rate increases, the government will get a bigger share.
But disagreed with the decision to increase the minimum call rate, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) president Golam Rahman said in the first light, there is no logic to increase the minimum rate. There is no objection to keeping it down or lowering another rate. And mobile phone operators and government now earn enough money from the telecommunications sector. Therefore, the decision of price hike will not be acceptable to the customers in any way.
BTRC tied the maximum and minimum limit of first voice call with the help of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2010. At the time of determining the call rate, the regulatory body made a 'cast modeling'.
Minute rate of voice call rate
Current and Suggested Prices
Minimum (on-net)
Current price is 25 paisa
Proposed 35 paisa
Minimum (off-net)
Current price is 60 paisa
Proposed 45 paisa
Max call rate
Current price is 2 taka
The proposed price is 1.5 taka
These decisions have been taken at a recent BTRC commission meeting. The decision has been sent to the Postal and Telecommunications Department for final approval. After approval of post and telecommunication department it will be sent to finance ministry. Because, the decision of the government's income-expenditure involved with this decision. According to the call rate revision, the overall revenue of the telecommunications sector will increase, the BTRC believes. However, if there is a negative attitude from the stakeholders, it has been said by the regulator that it has the scope to review these decisions.
At present, the minimum call limit for mobile phone is 25 paisa, and the maximum limit is Tk. 2 In other words, the operator sets the price of calls to different packages. If the BTRC's new proposal is implemented, the minimum and maximum limit of the call rate will be 35 paisa and 1 rupee 50 paisa respectively.
According to BTRC's proposal, call-on-net calls, that is, if the subscriber calls on his own network, he will only go to the operator concerned. And in the case of off-net calls, operators can call the network as per the existing rules, they can get 18 paisa per minute. Apart from the calls made from the operators' network, the Interconnection Exchange (ICX) will get 4 paisa as before. That means the main operator will be 22 paisa for off-net call.
Talking to the stakeholders, if the new decision to change the call rate changes, the cost of calling small operators to large operators will be reduced. For example, to make a call from Teletalk to Grameenphone, now the minimum cost is 60 paisa. It will now be reduced to 45 paisa. In this, the lenght operators will get comparative advantage in the number of subscribers. Although the off-net call will reduce the number of small operators. Because, for this type of call, the remaining 38 paisa is now excluded from the cost of 22 paise. If the new rules come into effect, the income will be reduced to 23 paisa.
According to BTRC, currently Teletalk's subscriber base is 37 lakh, which is the lowest among the operator operators. Grameenphone has more than 5 crore 93 lakh subscribers. Apart from Airtel, Robi has 3 crore 50 million subscribers and Banglalink has 3 crore 13 lakh subscribers.
Asked about the mobile phone operators' association Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) Secretary General TI Nurul Kabir said in the first light, Amtab agreed with the BTRC's proposal to increase the call rate. Because, the voice call rate in Bangladesh is the lowest in the world. If it is a little rearranged, it will be good for all parties. And if the call rate increases, the government will get a bigger share.
But disagreed with the decision to increase the minimum call rate, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) president Golam Rahman said in the first light, there is no logic to increase the minimum rate. There is no objection to keeping it down or lowering another rate. And mobile phone operators and government now earn enough money from the telecommunications sector. Therefore, the decision of price hike will not be acceptable to the customers in any way.
BTRC tied the maximum and minimum limit of first voice call with the help of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2010. At the time of determining the call rate, the regulatory body made a 'cast modeling'.
Minute rate of voice call rate
Current and Suggested Prices
Minimum (on-net)
Current price is 25 paisa
Proposed 35 paisa
Minimum (off-net)
Current price is 60 paisa
Proposed 45 paisa
Max call rate
Current price is 2 taka
The proposed price is 1.5 taka
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