It is heartening to hear that the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has appointed an organisation for independent assessment of the service quality of mobile operators in the country. Quality monitoring and enforcement, when it comes to the service provided, is much needed in Bangladesh. The BTRC's move is a right step towards ensuring consumer rights.
As of August 2016, according to BTRC, the number of mobile phone subscriptions in Bangladesh was 117.758 million. In 2016, the number of mobile internet users crossed 60 million. Clearly, the market is huge, and growing. Associated services, such as 3G internet, are also gaining greater number of users. In this context, it is unfortunate that complaints about the service quality of these operators have persisted. Disruptions, call drops, lack of coverage and low call quality -- these complaints span across all operators. The users of even the most successful operator are still plagued by frequent call drops.
Till now, the BTRC had to rely on reports by the operators themselves to judge the quality of service. We hope that this independent assessment will provide the BTRC with the information needed to get a proper picture. It has been reported that the operators have asked to be consulted before the parameters for measuring quality are set, which we feel may hamper the objectivity of the assessment.
We look forward to a successful fruition of this assessment drive. However, BTRC should be wary that this positive step does not become a tool for harassment of the service providers. We hope that the companies themselves see the assessment as an opportunity to improve the valuable service they provide and do their part to ensure the rights of the consumers they serve.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/editorial/assessment-telecom-service-quality-1381684
