Facebook posts flooded with questions about internet prices, says Taiyeb

He criticises mobile companies for opposing the interim government for the sake of opposition rather than pursuing the opportunities it has provided them to improve connectivity

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the chief advisor's special assistant on ICT, has criticised mobile phone operators, expressing dissatisfaction with the quality and price increase of services.

He said mobile companies are blaming the recent hike in SIM tax for the drop in subscriber numbers, but called it a very weak and unconvincing argument.

According to him, customers are leaving because they believe the quality of service provided by mobile operators is poor and the charges are too high.

He also noted that people have been “attacking” his Facebook posts with questions as to why mobile internet prices are not being reduced.

Faiz made the remarks at a roundtable meeting titled “Telecommunication Network and Licensing Infrastructure in Dhaka” on Saturday.

The meeting was organised by the Telecom and Technology Reporter's Network, Bangladesh (TRNB), a journalists' organisation covering the telecom and technology sector.

Faiz also strongly criticised mobile companies for opposing the interim government simply for the sake of doing it, instead of recognising the opportunities the government has created for improving network connectivity.

Didarul Alam, AVP (Senior Consultant) of Axiata Group, the parent company of mobile phone operator Robi, said: “The policy value is to control competition through licencing rules and regulations. That means we are determining how many foreign investors can come into a sector.”

Faiz asked, “What have our operators achieved with the investment capping that was in place for the past 15 years?

“No one can just enter the cellular service sector because they want to. I can’t hand out spectrum freely. It's a crucial national asset. We allocated it to the mobile operators.

He said, “The leading company in Bangladesh, GP, has 34 percent local ownership. Aktel was once very promising, but after its 100 percent ownership was transferred, it began suffering losses.

“So what does our local experience tell us? Companies that have a mix of foreign and local investment tend to perform better.”

Emphasising that the government is formulating a telecommunications policy which recommends capping foreign investment at 80 percent, he added that this is not a law, but simply a policy recommendation.

“The policies on which you have operated for the last 15 years have not yielded any good results. I think you [mobile operators] will do well if you follow these policies,” he said.

“Robi already has 10 percent of its shares in the market, and there’s no issue with releasing another 5 percent.

“I believe that increasing local participation will encourage local innovation, which we’re currently not seeing.”

Faiz said, “We have removed the transmission barriers. We have given [mobile operators] the opportunity to get DWDM and dark fibre.

“I do not consider any policy of the previous autocratic government as my own, and therefore, I feel no obligation to explain or defend any of its decisions. I reject them.

“We are discarding what was done under the name of ILDTS and telecommunications policies, and we are in the process of creating new ones.”