The telecommunications industry is crucial to Bangladesh's socioeconomic development.
As a developing nation, Bangladesh has witnessed how an efficient and thriving telecommunications industry increases smartphone penetration, connectivity, digital inclusion, and other sectors' productivity.
In 2020, Bangladesh's GDP grew by an additional $2.3 billion because of the increased reliance on and expansion of mobile usage, as well as the direct and indirect results of activities enabled by the telecommunications industry.
The regulatory authorities appear positively persistent in their efforts to improve the telecommunication system and attain excellence by introducing next-gen technologies in order to realize the "Digital Bangladesh" vision.
However, if the industry cannot address the theft and vandalism of telecommunications equipment, a lesser-discussed concern, such as theft incidents, can render all efforts futile.
Backdrop
Previously, only mobile operators in Bangladesh were responsible for constructing and maintaining BTS towers.
In 2018, BTRC issued four tower sharing licences to tower companies.
As per the tower sharing policy, tower companies are now responsible for the construction of new towers, the sharing of existing towers, and their operation and maintenance.
The primary aim of the tower sharing guideline is to advance the industry with improved efficiency, while towerco's focus will be on constructing new towers and maintaining them to fulfill industry standards, and mobile operators' focus will be on boosting network service for end users.
However, it has recently been raised as a matter of grave concern that the goal of improving the telco industry and satisfying customers is in grave jeopardy because of the ongoing theft and vandalism, which causes significant annual revenue losses for industry players and the government.
The leading tower company, edotco, which has a market share of 33% of all towers owned or managed by edotco, acknowledged with great concern that it had been the victim of 242 theft incidents at a rate of 1.85% in 2021.
Another statistic reveals that in 2020, edotco had to spend Tk21.23 crore to replace and repair the vandalized equipment.
Unfortunately, the said money would otherwise have been used to improve equipment, technology, and industry development, meaning the theft incidents have severely impeded the increasing growth of the Bangladeshi telecom industry.
Why the theft
According to the sources, the theft and vandalism of telecom infrastructures are primarily motivated by the high demand for Li-ion batteries and the accessibility of battery re-engineering workshops throughout the nation.
In 2021, 94% of theft incidents primarily involved batteries.
In addition, the seclusion of the tower sites, particularly at night, has provided additional advantages for these criminal activities, which have become more prevalent during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
The nature of the thefts and vandalism shows that the perpetrators are technically proficient and familiar with telecom components.
In most cases, the perpetrators have been identified as vehicle drivers, former security guards, and local technicians employed at motor and auto-rickshaw repair shops.
In the Sylhet and Jessore zones, particularly in Satkhira, the existence of local gangs was clear, resulting in a 10% and 7% probability of theft incidents in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Most of the entry methods are breaking door or lock plates and breaking the ventilation system using gas cutters, welding machines, portable grinders, hydraulic hammers, etc.
Occasionally, the situation is made worse by the lack of local police attention to these theft incidents.
Even after being apprehended, perpetrators occasionally receive bail within a few days and continue stealing, rendering these arrests ineffective.
A recent trend identified by edotco shows that in 32% of instances, thieves used site access keys to enter a site with Abloy locks.
In other cases, they gain access to the site by displaying fake proof of identity as tower company representatives.
Occasionally, they twist the doorbell alarm cable.
Highly skilled thieves can steal batteries without disrupting DC power to equipment.
There have also been instances of partial battery theft, which prevents sites from shutting down easily, and thefts go unreported for an extended period.
Remedies
Companies have taken measures such as enhancing site security and digitizing key and locking systems in order to prevent theft incidents from causing enormous financial losses.
These measures have borne fruit and have improved the situation.
Immediately after replacing mechanical locks with digital locks edotco Bangladesh saw results, as theft incidents decreased by 83%, resulting in a 40% decrease in theft incidents in 2021 compared to 2020 and a savings of Tk10.6 crore over the last 2.5 years.
In the past few years, 232 of 340 successful theft attempts prevented at edotco tower sites resulted from security measures.
The remaining 108 were successfully thwarted by the local populace, indicating that security measures should be coupled with increasing social awareness via leaflet distribution, increased patrolling and vigilance with operators, and frequent visits to local police stations to gain the support of local administration and law enforcing agencies.
Since most criminals are already familiar with existing security technologies, the sites should be redesigned to eliminate the security vulnerabilities.
According to the industry, building and landowners should be motivated with higher rents to prevent theft attempts.
Frequent attempts at theft over the past few years are one of the primary causes of poor network coverage for customers today.
As the next aim of Bangladesh's telecom operators and tower companies is to establish 5G network infrastructures, theft incidents will continue to be a major concern for international and local investors if they are not immediately addressed.
The deployment of 5G causes the assembly of advanced and expensive technologies.
If the situation does not improve and the safety of 5G equipment is not ensured, there will be a reversal of recent progress as this will cause significant financial losses for mobile operators and tower companies, a delay in the deployment of 5G, and a significant loss of revenue for the government.
In the end, this will impact the growth of the communication industry and the nation's digital vision, resulting in poor network coverage for the public.
According to the opinion of industry experts, all industry participants must unite to put a stop to these criminal activities as soon as possible.
To address this issue, frequent dialogues, collaboration, and cooperation among industry players are highly desirable.
The industry participants should request help and corrective measures from the local law enforcement agencies and administrative bodies.
In addition, industry participants should establish theft reduction key performance indicators (KPIs) in order to address the issue with the utmost urgency.
The author is the country managing director at edotco Bangladesh
