Operators must text call drop compensation information to subscribers: Tarana Halim

Mobile-phone operators must inform subscribers when giving free talk time for dropped calls, says Minister of State for Post and Telecommunication Tarana Halim.

She told the media about the directive after a meeting with the CEOs and the representatives of mobile-phone operators on Thursday.
 
She said the operators had already begun compensating subscribers following government orders.
 
“The subscribers would not know they are being compensated if you (operators) don’t tell them. You’ll have to inform them through SMS,” Tarana said.
 
She said the government did not want any confusion among subscribers on this.
 
The talk time compensation for dropped calls would conform to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard. 
 
A top Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) official said only operators that ensured less than 3 percent call drops could claim to be providing quality service in accordance with BTRC and ITU standards.
 
The BTRC was keeping an eye on whether the operators were indeed restoring a minute’s talk time for each dropped call, commission Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said after the meeting.   
 
Mahmood said the commission was planning a ‘short code service’ to take specific complaints.
 
“A call centre will also be launched soon,” he said.
 
Telecom Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury said the operators had been asked to give subscribers a weekly statement on dropped calls and talk time compensation.
 
Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) General Secretary TIM Nurul Kabir said the operators were giving the BTRC drop call details each month.