Grameenphone faces BTRC probe over call drops, with potential fine up to Tk 300 Crore
UNB
Publish: 04 Jul 2024, 04:09 PM
Dhaka,
Jul 03 (UNB) - The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
has issued a show cause notice to Grameenphone due to excessive call drops. If
unable to provide a satisfactory explanation, the telco operator faces a fine
of upto Tk 300 crore.
The notice was issued to
GP on July 1.
Junaid Ahmed Palak,
State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology,
informed journalists of the development after the inauguration of the GPT
platform 'G-Brain' organized at the ICT Tower of Agargaon in the capital on
Wednesday afternoon.
Palak stated, "We
have issued a show cause notice to Grameenphone initially. Further analysis is
underway. If they can provide a valid explanation, they may be pardoned like
last time. However, if they fail to justify their actions properly, BTRC can
impose fines ranging from Tk 100 crore to Tk 300 crore."
"We had asked for
explanations from four MNOs regarding our test drive on July 30," he
added.
Voice calls, data, and
network coverage in these three main areas are checked to verify the service
quality of mobile phone operators. BTRC conducts 'Quality of Service (QoS)
Drive Test' for verification.
Engineer Md. Mahiuddin
Ahmed, Chairman of BTRC, mentioned that voice and data services on the
Grameenphone network did not meet the expected standards in the drive test.
BTRC is investigating the reasons behind this.
"If any operator
fails to maintain the expected service quality, BTRC will take action.
Customers should not suffer any inconvenience," emphasized the BTRC
Chairman.
According to the Quality
of Service (QoS) guidelines, there is a provision for up to 2% call drops in
the case of voice calls. For call setups, BTRC has set a specific time limit of
seven seconds. Additionally, a minimum download speed of 7 Mbps is required for
4G technology.
End/UNB/M/HM/ssk