Some ICT-based organisations staged a sit-in before the BTRC premises in the city yesterday demanding cuts in internet prices.
The sit-in was staged notwithstanding the announcement from mobile phone operators to slash internet prices by the end of this month.
“We heard that a meeting was held between BTRC and the operators, but we don’t know yet how much price (of internet use) they will reduce,” said Julius Chowdhury, an organiser of the programme.
He said the regulator and the operators can take any decision, but they need to implement that first. “We have to check the internet speed, and the package prices.”
The sit-in began at 3:00pm on Wednesday in front of the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory office at Ramna.
A while after the programme began, BTRC director general of systems and services division Brig Gen Golam Mowla Bhuiyan and director Lt. Col Rakibul Hassan came to the gathering and offered to sit in a meeting with them.
Earlier on Tuesday, the BTRC authorities held a meeting with the operators, where the operators promised to reduce internet prices.
“All the (mobile phone) operators came to a consensus (that) they would make significant cuts on the internet prices,” said Md Giashuddin Ahmed, vice chairman of BTRC. He said it will take some time for preparation as all the tasks are software-based. “Considering the kind of work, we gave the operators some time to revise their prices on internet.”
After the meeting, the operators made an announcement on cutting internet prices.
“The reduction of internet prices will make internet access even more affordable for users,” said Mahmudur Rahman, executive vice president, CRL of Robi.
“We expect that the new pricing could potentially encourage thousands of first-time users to explore the web as a ready source of information,” added the official of the operator.
Taslim Ahmed, Head of Corporate Communications and PR of Citycell, told Dhaka Tribune that they always give customers the best internet experience and the lowest tariff.”
Airtel, the sixth operator of the country also declared to reduce its ‘pay as you go (PG1)’ internet tariff in Bangladesh by the end of this month, in a press release. It said, the upcoming reduction of internet tariff will increase availability of internet among the mass and will prove to be a revolutionary step forward.
At a press conference in May, a number of ICT-based organisations demanded the authorities fix internet price at Tk0.10 for per megabyte use or Tk10 per gigabyte use. They gave a 15-day ultimatum to implement their demand, which expired on Wednesday.