The telecom regulator is finally going to allow the mobile phone operators to introduce mobile handsets in the local market on their own brands, which is currently prohibited, after an agreement with the importers or manufacturers.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is now busy drafting a directive in this regard, which is likely to be issued shortly.
The telecom watchdog came up with the decision as the third largest mobile phone operator Robi recently sought a permission at a meeting with BTRC officials for branding a handset of Maximus company, the model of which is M266.
The decision will go in favor of all the mobile phone operators as they would be able to import handsets to release in the market labeling their own brands, said BTRC sources.
“We’ve also heard about the regulator’s decision to allow the mobile phone operators to
introduce handsets on their own brand and I think it will be largely helpful for the industry,” Shihab Ahmad, Chief Commercial Officer of Banglalink, told the
Dhaka Tribune on Thursday at his office in the city.
Hailing the decision, he, also said, “It is obvious that the subscribers can trust more on a mobile operator than a handset vendor while we can offer better after sale services and users can also rely on the mobile operators better than others.”
Before changing its mind, BTRC had earlier fined Tk3 lakh to a handsets vendor called Flowra Telecom Limited in 2010 as it put all their imported 2.5 lakh handsets under the brand of Grameenphone with a selling price of Tk2,500 each.
At that time, BTRC had argued that if mobile operators got involved in handsets business, the handsets vendors would loose their stakes and mobile operators would grab the entire mobile market.
But this time, BTRC has taken a u-turn, just citing examples from different countries on this issue.
In India, mobile operator Reliance has branded two handsets product from Lenovo and Nokia. Same practices were seen in Sri Lanka while Europe is the pioneer in introducing this services.
“We were trying to implement new idea in the country but the telecom regulatory authority did not allow us to do so, but now it has finally changed its stance after four years.
But we are not yet sure whether we would take the chance or not,” a senior executive of Grameenphone told the Dhaka Tribune.
BTRC officials, however, fear that if BTRC finally allowed the mobile phone operators to brand handsets, it could also come up with some extra charges along with fresh conditions.
Considering the decision a positive one, Hasan Mehdi, head of Samsung Mobile Bangladesh said, “We may face some challenges because of the policy shift but on the other hand it may also benefit the consumers in various ways.”
Device locking proposal rejected
At the same meeting, the BTRC also turned down both the two proposals from the Grameenphone and Banglalink for introducing device locking system in the mobile handsets.
BTRC officials said the two mobile phone operators had earlier sought regulator’s permission for offering high-priced handsets along with packages of the respective companies with lower prices where users would be allowed to pay the amount in installments.
In this regard, a senior BTRC official said, if they were allowed, the mobile phone operators would only bring high-priced set to attract the customers, which might contribute to destabilising the market.