Mobile Phone Number Portability (MNP) service has been launched in the country. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) launched this service from Monday (October 1). In this, Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Teletalk customers can go to each other's network and use their call rate and internet package, but the number will remain the same.
Chairman of the organization Zahurul Haque gave this information in a press conference at the conference room of BTRC in Ramna of the capital on Monday around 11:30 am. He said, this service has been started from now. One operator's number can be used on another operator's network. The customer can change the operator service of his choice without any hesitation. No need to change your phone number for this. The introduction of this service is expected to increase competition among mobile operators in providing quality services.
Chairman of BTRC said in the press conference that 17 customers changed operators by taking this service from 7 am to 11 pm. It has been launched on a trial basis from today. The Prime Minister will officially inaugurate it.
Zahurul Haque also said, 'For this change, the rate that the customer has to pay now will be gradually reduced. The rate of this money will be further reduced if the licensed company makes more profit.
In addition to BTRC Chairman, Commissioner, Director General, Director of different departments of the organization and Infozillion, a licensed company to provide MNP services, were present in the press conference.
The final approval of the policy was given in July last year for the introduction of MNP in Bangladesh.
To change the operator, the customer has to go to the customer care or service center of the concerned operator (to which he/she is interested) with the National Identity Card (NID) information. As the automated system is in place, customers will not need photos. A new SIM will be issued to the customer after going to the customer care and depositing the prescribed fee. As per the rules, the new SIM should be activated within 72 hours. Once the operator changes, the customer has to stay with the new operator for 90 days.
While finalizing the MNP policy in July, it was said that the customer would have to pay a fee of Rs 30 for switching operators. However, BTRC increased it by 50 rupees before the launch. Infozillion and BTRC will get this money. However, there is 15 percent value added tax or VAT on it. As a result, the customer's fee stands at 57 taka 50 paisa. Apart from this there is a National Board of Revenue (NBR) tax of Tk 100 on SIM change. In total, the customer's fee stands at 158 taka.
However, the customer has to pay Tk 100 extra to avail MNP service quickly (within 24 hours). There is 15 percent VAT on it. However, Infozillion believes that except for postpaid customers, other than postpaid customers will not need to pay extra for fast service.
