Mobile Number Portability to begin by March: Minister Tarana

State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim expects the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) facility to be introduced in March this year.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Jan 2016, 02:07 PM
Updated : 6 Jan 2016, 02:07 PM

The facility will allow mobile phone subscribers to switch operators without changing existing numbers.
 
“We will be able to start the process by March,” Tarana said on Wednesday at a press conference called to highlight the division’s achievements over the past two years.
 
The government was revising the conditions of licensing and tendering for the MNP to make the rules transparent, she said.
 
“The revision will ensure there is no conflict of interest,” she added.
 

Posts and Telecommunications Division Secretary Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury said, “The revised rules provide for the cancellation of licences and the forfeiture of deposits if conditions are not fulfilled.”
The finance ministry had approved the MNP guidelines on Dec 2 last year.
The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) then began discussions on auction modalities for the appointment of the MNP operator.
The revision of the guidelines began once doubts surfaced regarding the auction procedure related to the grant of licence for this vital work.
Earlier, Tarana Halim had said the MNP would become available at the beginning of the new year.
The state minister on Wednesday also said the BTRC’s social responsibility fund would be put to use from this year.
The ‘idle’ money - about Tk 7.25 billion - would be spent on extending telecommunication to remote areas and funding innovative information technology projects, she added.
She also disclosed the government’s plan to launch a Bangla domain - .bangla - on International Mother Language Day as a mark of respect to the sacrifices made for the Bangla language in February 1952.
Tarana Halim said Bangladesh had been ranked third in terms of market space among the telecom sectors of 20 major Asia Pacific countries.
She thanked the people and telecom operators for this ranking announced by GSMA, an international body of mobile phone operators.​