BTRC vigilance teams\\\' integrity in question

The government has asked the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to investigate if persons or organisations included in its inspection teams have 'conflict of interest' with cellphone operators.
In August, the telecom regulator formed teams to see for themselves whether mobilephone companies are delivering their services as per expectation from the users.
A BTRC official said the teams were constituted to give a customer leeway to select an operator at his or her choice.
The Telecommunication Ministry asked the BTRC to look into the matter after receiving complaints from cellphone companies that the inspection teams were formed, incorporating persons and organisations having conflict of interest with them.
Against the backdrop of increasing call drops, poor network coverage and unsatisfactory customer support, the BTRC had issued a directive, asking operators to improve services last year.
"It is observed that all the operators are not giving due attention to the quality of service network as the customers' complaints have also been increased," reads the BTRC directive.
The BTRC formed two committees and a team of the regulatory body conducted a survey throughout the country to monitor the speed of mobile internet from 16 August to evaluate the quality of data services.  
A total of the three teams comprising five members each are conducting this survey in 45 Upazilas under 15 selective districts.
Representatives from top three mobile operators will accompany the BTRC team.
A BTRC official said they will look into the complaints if there are any controversial persons in the teams.
Meanwhile, the BTRC is going to propose forming Telecommunication Service and Tariff Monitoring Team.
"The objective of forming this team is to monitor whether the customers are getting services in accordance with the packages we approve in favour of mobile operators," said a senior BTRC official.
The commission has recently discovered that there was often a major deviation from that package approval that the mobile operators take and what they offer in the market, he said.
'In order to check such acts, this team will monitor the issue on a regular basis,' the official said.
He said the formation of TSTMT was approved by the BTRC but the details would be finalised after getting opinion from the Legal and Licensing Division of the commission.
This team will operate under the Systems and Services Division of the commission.
Another BTRC official said the commission came to know some recent cases that revealed that the mobile operators did not deliver the services properly.
'For example, in 2G and 3G internet packages the operators obtain approval of those as different packages but offer customers a uniformed internet service,' he said.
In the last three years, the BTRC has suspended a number of offers by the mobile phone companies made following media reports on violation of rules.
In December 2014, the telecom regulator asked mobile phone operator Robi to stop its promotional campaign Dekhiye Dao Quiz Show as the offer violated relevant laws.
The BTRC also fined Banglalink Tk 920 million and later lowered the fine to Tk 900 million on charges of earning through an unapproved package in 2011.
In another move, the regulator stopped a Grameen-phone offer, which was promoting the sale of operator's old SIMs or numbers over Tk 30,000 per SIM.
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