Grameenphone would be the greatest beneficiary if call rates of all mobile operators are set uniformly.
Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar said this in Parliament on Tuesday.
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“Customers would be attracted to Grameenphone if call rates of all operators are set uniformly,” Jabbar said.
Replying to a question from ruling Awami League MP Nur Uddin Chowdhury, he said based on the number of subscribers, Grameenphone has a market share of 45.95 percent. Robi has 29.45 percent, Banglalink 20.85 percent and Teletalk 3.7 percent.
The minister said as Grameenphone has a large market share, setting the same call rate for all operators will encourage the customers from other operators to shift to Grameenphone services.
“As a result, its market share is likely to increase further. In this case, the market position of small operators will be hampered,” he said.
In response to a supplementary question from Syed Abu Hossain of the Jatiya Party, Mustafa Jabbar said that the problem of call drop and network on mobile phones is a big crisis all over the country.
“There is no one in the country who has not been the victim of a call drop. Besides, the mobile network is also not available in many places,” he said.
He said the number of subscribers of phone operating companies has increased a lot. Grameenphone has more than 8 crore subscribers, and Robi has more than 5 crore subscribers.
He said that the operators did not take even one-third of the required spectrum for their customer bases.
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“Under pressure of the government, they increased the amount of spectrum last March. The problem will be solved if this wave is fully expanded by next December. If the companies do not fully expand the wave within this period, there is an opportunity to take action and impose fines against them,” the minister said.
Replying to another supplementary question, he expressed hope that Teletalk's network would be expanded across the country by 2023.
The minister called upon all to become subscribers of the state-owned mobile operator.