Mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh will have to wait another year to enjoy mobile number portability (MNP) – a service that allows customers to change operators without changing any digit of their phone numbers.
The decision is in accordance with a government roadmap on telecom sector, said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, who is also responsible for the Telecom Ministry in parliament.
In a question-answer session in parliament yesterday, Obaidul said the government has taken the initiative to formulate the telecom roadmap – focusing on 15 points – to develop the telecom, information and communication sector.
According to the roadmap, 3G subscribers will enjoy interconnection with different operators by March this year, which will allow callers to enjoy services like inter-operator video calls.
In 2008, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) prepared a guideline to introduce MNP services; but the mobile phone operators did not respond to the efforts at the time.
The process regained momentum in 2012 when the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Telecommunication Ministry recommended setting up MNP services by that year. Recently the BTRC also arranged a public hearing about the MNP services.
According to the roadmap, a directive on Quality of Service – or the overall performance of a telephony network – has already been issued, while a complete guideline would be made by June next year, the minister said.
Replying to a question from ruling party lawmaker M Abdul Latif, Obaidul informed the House that the government would launch the Bangabandhu Satellite by 2017.
Replying to another question from independent lawmaker Haji Mohammad Selim, Obaidul Quader said the state-owned telecom company, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL), has more than Tk59.25 crore in outstanding telephone bills to different ministries and organisations.
Out of the outstanding amount, the Establishment Ministry owes the BTCL the most – Tk10.91 crore.
The Home Ministry owes Tk8.32 crore in unpaid phone bills, Health Ministry owes Tk5.86 crore, and the Law Ministry’s outstanding bills stand at Tk5.18 crore.
On a separate note, Obaidul told parliament that the government has established 3,172 computer labs between 2009 and 2012, as well as setting up 372 virtual desktop computing network labs as a pilot project in different districts of Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur divisions.
