PMO clears MNP guidelines allowing mobile phone number retention after switching operator

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has approved the guidelines on mobile number portability (MNP).

MNP will allow a subscriber to switch from one operator to another without having to change the existing number.

“After the PMO’s final nod it will be now forwarded to the telecoms regulator BTRC, which will now start the bidding process,” Telecoms Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury told bdnews24.com.

In January this year, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) included specific criteria for bidders in the guidelines and forwarded it to the PMO.

“The prime minister’s office has approved the draft without changing anything,” an official of the telecoms ministry told bdnews24.com.

The bidding criteria were added in the wake of industry analysts’ apprehensions over ‘transparency’ in the bidding process.

After reviewing the guidelines, the BTRC included nine criteria to evaluate the bidders, who will be evaluated on a score of 100 points.

The criteria include experience in conducting MNP work, and making technical and system designs; global footprint, technical capacity, financial analysis, rollout management, and risk management.

The evaluation committee will grade the bidders on the information provided in their applications.

The use of a mobile-phone number over a period makes it a part of an individual or organisation’s identity. Yet, they often have to switch operators to take the advantage of a better network or more competitive plans on offer.

The finance ministry gave its clearance for the guidelines on the long-awaited facility in December last year, after which the regulators started pondering on the bidding process.

State Minister for Telecoms Tarana Halim had announced the plan to introduce MNP in March this year.

The finance ministry has already cleared that mobile operators will charge Tk 30 from a subscriber for the facility.

A subscriber will have to wait for 45 days after availing the facility to switch operators.

Besides countries in Europe and America, operators in India and Pakistan offer this option to their subscribers.

Industry pundits, however, were apprehensive over the bidding process.

According to them, auction focused solely on price, which poses the risk of allotting the job to the lowest bidder at the cost of service and quality.

On Dec 15 last year, Minister Halim told bdnews24.com that a revision of the guidelines was essential to ensure ‘transparency’. “We will have to see whether auction bidding can be held for licensing. Technical qualifications are important for a grading.”

In the new draft, the earnest money has been revised from Tk 500,000 to Tk 1 million.

The base price has also been increased from Tk 5 million to Tk 10 million, annual licence renewal fee from Tk 1 million to Tk 2 million, and bank guarantee from Tk 5 million to Tk 10 million.

The draft policy stipulates Value Added Services (VAS) related to MNP and rollout obligation of one percent capacity.

It says the bidder in the second position will be given the licence if the first one fails to meet the rollout obligation.

A telecoms expert said big mobile-phone operators may try to get the MNP job by using front companies.

If they succeed, the expert says, they may then try to delay the launch of MNP service.

The rollout obligation has been included in the draft to plug this loophole.

The revised draft says foreign companies willing to bid must have a Bangladeshi partner. In this case, the foreign partners can own maximum 51 percent stake in the local company and they have to arrange funds from overseas.

Owners, directors, partners, investors or shareholders of a mobile operator licensed in Bangladesh will not be able to bid.

The licence will be awarded for 15 years and from the second year of operations, the company will have to share 5.5 percent revenue with the government.