Residents of the country’s border areas have become regular users of mobile SIM cards from Indian mobile phone operators, as the network range of these companies allegedly reach up to eight kilometers within Bangladeshi territories.
Both local and Indian mobile phone connections are reportedly used by people living near Jaflong, Benapole, Akhaura and Hilli land ports and also in some border areas in the northwest.
Telecom insiders said the cross-border mobile network interception situation deteriorated when companies from both sides started setting up their network in the border areas. This also made smuggling products easier through the borders, they added.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) acknowledged the problem and claimed that work was on to overcome the issue.
“We have written to the Indian counterparts about it several times and at the same time we sought assistance from our post and telecommunication ministry. Without the ministry’s assistance we cannot do anything about it,” said Colonel Md Zakir Hossain, director general of engineering and operations division of the BTRC.
Sources said many Rajshahi city residents were frequently using mobile connections from India’s Vodafone and Reliance companies.
Shibly Noman, a local TV journalist, told the Dhaka Tribune that the network of Indian Airtel was available in Rajshahi, adding that people of 20 villages near the border used connections from Indian Airtel and Vodafone.
“You can find Indian operators’ SIM cards in every house with local connections,” said Jamil Mahmud, a resident of Rajshahi University area.
Sources said Indian phone connections make cross-border communication easier for villagers in Godagari upazila who frequently visit India for work.
“We had a study nearly two years back across the border areas. We have submitted our report to the BTRC, also with a proposal for technical solutions. We have no idea what happened after that,” AKM Morshed, chief technology officer of Robi told the Dhaka Tribune.
Mujibur Rahaman, managing director of state-owned mobile operator Teletalk said, “It is very tough to restrict the mobile networks in border areas.”
Following the recent setup of Teletalk network in the three-bigha corridor, it would not be unusual for any Indian to be using the Teletalk network as well, he also claimed.
Robi official Morshed however said color-coding of the dedicated network spectrums could be a solution to avoid cross-border interception.
Another senior executive from a different operator said: “Our marketing team frequently informed that they are losing the markets in border areas.”
Local mobile operators also claimed that the setting up of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) by their Indian counterparts allowed people from both sides of the border to use their services.
With the availability of Indian mobile network near the border, calls from Bangladeshi connections are often counted as international (ISD) calls, resulting in unusually large bills.
About a year ago, local operators Grameenphone and Robi submitted a survey report to the telecom regulators and complained about the cross-border interference.
According to the report, Vodafone’s network was available 5.8km inside the country in Dinajpur. Network was also found to be available more than 4.5km inside Chuadanga district in Jibonnagar, while similar situation also prevailed in Kushtia and Naogaon.
Vodafone’s network was also found 3km inside Chapainawabganj, Satkhira and Panchagarh borders.
