Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Tuesday directed telecom operator Grameenphone to ensure quality mobile service in order to reduce customer suffering.

“As the quality of service increases, the call drop subsidy will decrease,” he said in a meeting with the Grameenphone delegation led by Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Asia Jorgen C Arentz Rostrup at the secretariat.

It will not be easy to survive the competition in the digital age without innovation and technology development, said Jabbar.

The government is determined to do everything possible to improve the infrastructure to ensure the quality of mobile services, he said. “We have already allocated spectrum as per the demand.”

He hoped that the mobile operators will be able to provide the desired mobile services to the customers by utilising this opportunity.

Jabbar also urged Grameenphone to take a role in increasing the rate of smartphone usage to 100% to meet the challenges of the digital age, saying that it would be highly appreciated if Grameenphone took such an initiative so that ordinary customers can buy smartphones in installments.

Regarding internet usage, the minister said the bandwidth used in the country was 1000 Gbps before Covid pandemic, but it has increased to 3840 Gbps during pandemic.

He appreciated Grameenphone's role in speedily implementing his directive to provide 4G network to the remotest communities of the country during Covid pandemic.