Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service will be launched in February or March next year, said Tarana Halim, state minister for telecommunication.
She said the government’s telecommunication division has already approved the MNP guideline, which is now at the finance ministry for its approval to the financial issues.
“After completing all the process, the government will be able to introduce this service by February/March or earlier,” Tarana Halim told a press conference at the secretariat yesterday.
MNP enables mobile telephone users to move from one network to other within the country keeping numbers unchanged.
The service is already available in around 70 countries across the world, including India and Pakistan.
“Once MNP service is introduced, competition will increase among the operators. Operators will then have to ensure quality of their service to hold existing or attract new subscribers,” Tarana Halim said.
“This initiative is being taken to protect customers’ right of choosing operator freely on the basis of satisfaction.”
Under the MNP system, a conversion to a new operator will charge a fee of Tk30 each time and cannot be altered within 40 days.
After bidding process, licence will be given to an independent company for 15 years to run the MNP system. The annual licence renewal fee will be TK20 lakh while the company will have to share 5.5% revenue with the regulatory body.
Any registered Bangladeshi company can participate in the bidding, but no mobile operators are eligible.
About the re-registration of SIM cards, state minister said the government won’t give an unlimited period of time to the operators to complete the works.
“They must complete it by April. BTRC will take tough action against any unregistered SIM after that.”
Besides, SIM registration with biometric identification will begin on December 16 after a pilot project in November.
