Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Thursday said that the telecom operators’ profit will fall if they can’t maintain their quality of services. Jabbar said this at a roundtable meeting organized by Telecom and Technology Reporters’ Network Bangladesh (TRNB) at the Brac Center. Jabbar added that a successful spectrum auction has happened this year. “Increasing the quality of services is impossible without increasing the spectrum. That’s why telecom operators need enough spectrum in their stock,” Jabbar said. Also read: Mobile operators must increase spectrum by December to provide better services to customers He said that connectivity is becoming a basic need of the country’s people day by day. “People want speedy net connections nowadays. The telecom operators have to dedicate themselves in providing speedy internet services,” Jabbar added. The minister stressed the need of taking tower sharing to 100 per cent, which is only 17 per cent at present. “We’re trying to formulate active sharing regulations as soon as possible. We’re also trying to ensure that the four telecom companies can use the towers altogether,” Jabbar said. Although Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) tried to sign a tripartite agreement (Mobile Operator-Tower Company-Mobile Operator) in May, 2021 and some telecom companies tried to share the towers of other network companies in the previous years, no tower sharing happened in the last four years. Also read: BTRC receives Tk 2.78 crore fines from three mobile operators Among the network operators, tower sharing by Robi, Grameenphone and Banglalink is at 30 per cent, 18 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. Among the 24.425 towers of the telecom operators, only 17 per cent is being currently shared. The meeting was presided over by TRNB President Rashed Mehedi. TRNB General Secretary SM Masuduzzaman Robin provided the introductory speech, while the main essay was read out by TIM Nurul Kabir.

Telecom operators have swung into emergency mode to restore their networks in the three flood-affected districts of Bangladesh --Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrakona. So far, cellular coverage has been restored at 1,166 of 2,528 sites in these districts, the Post and Telecommunication Ministry has said in a release. Read: Govt working to restore telecommunication in flood-hit areas Three telecom operators -- Internet Service Provider (ISP), Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) and Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) -- provide services in these three districts. The Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has also set up a monitoring cell for the flood-hit areas.

Telecom operators will send all SMS or notifications in Bangla text on the occasion of International Mother Tongue Day. Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar inaugurated the service at an event at the conference room of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Sunday. The Minister said that 91 percent of the technical activities related to sending SMS in Bangla by all the operators have already been completed. He also called on all operators to complete the remaining nine per cent work by June. BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder said that 16 types of mobile SMS / notifications will be sent in Bengali. BTRC Vice-Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra said that Bangla typing system has already been introduced in all mobile handsets and SMS service has been launched in Bangla for customers at half cost. Also read: Nation to pay heartfelt tributes to language martyrs Monday Mentioning that many customers do not understand if a message is sent in English, he said that all Bangla speaking people will benefit from the introduction of SMS in Bangla. Director General (Systems and Services) of BTRC Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez presented the activities related to the introduction of SMS service in Bangla in detail. He said that Banglalink is at the forefront in sending Bangla SMS to the customers as five per cent of the company's work is still left. Grameenphone is in the next position completing 90 percent of the work of sending SMS in Bangla. Meanwhile, state-owned operator Teletalk has completed 85 per cent of the work while Robi 78 per cent operations. At present, 151.85 crore daily text messages are delivered to the subscribers, he added. Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications Division Md Khalilur Rahman said the government is trying to make Bengali the official language of the United Nations. The Posts and Telecommunications Division has taken initiative to convert most of the laws printed in English of this Ministry into Bangla. Also read: Int’l seminar on language in London on Monday Commissioner of Engineering and Operations Department of BTRC Engineer Mohiuddin Ahmed,  Commissioner of Legal and Licensing Department of BTRC Abu Syed Diljar Hussain, Director General (Spectrum) Brigadier General Md Moniruzzaman Jewel, Director General (Finance, Accounts and Revenue) Engineer Md Mesbahuzzaman and other senior officials of BTRC and mobile operators were present at the event.

Four companies – which got telecom tower license in 2018 – are stepping up efforts to set up more infrastructures for the operators to help them improve service quality.