Mobile operators yet to start compensating for call drops
Tareque Moretaza
Despite the telecom regulators direction, mobile operators are yet to compensate call minutes to the subscribers for unexpected call drops.
On January 19, Bangladesh Telecom-munication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) directed all mobile operators of the country to pay compensation for unexpected call drops to the subscribers.
When asked why mobile phone operators are showing reluctance for giving compensation, T I M Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), told The Independent that there was no clear directions of call drop compensation in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and BTRCs benchmark for quality services mentioned in the letter sent by BTRC.
Kabir said: We have sent a letter to BTRC to have a better idea how call drops compensation would work. It will be clear after consultation with BTRC officials. We are waiting for BTRCs response to our letter,
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim, earlier, summoned CEOs of mobile operators company following a Facebook post of Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, who showed angry reaction through his social site post after being fed up with call drops from the countrys largest mobile phone operator Grameen Phone.
On 28 January Tarana Halim said the mobile phone operators must inform their subscribers about the compensation in case of call drop through SMS.
The mobile phone operators have to inform their subscribers about the compensation through SMS. If the subscribers are not informed, they will think that they are not getting the compensation, Tarana said at a meeting with the chief executive officers of mobile phone operators.
Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Division, said the mobile phone operators will have to inform their subscribers if possible daily or weekly about how many cases of call drops occurred and how much free talk time he or she was given as compensation.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Engineer Shahjahan Mahmood said it is monitoring that if the operators are providing 60 seconds of free talk time on each call drop as compensation according to the rules. BTRC will take measure if the regulator gets any allegation regarding call drops from the subscribers, he added.
According to BTRC, the talk time compensation for dropped calls would conform to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard.
