Mobile operator Robi Axiata Limited has filed a plea with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to phase out the 3G (the third generation) network operations with a view to utilising the same resources for strengthening its 4G (the fourth generation) network.
Earlier, the operator in a statement expressed its intention to phase out the 3G network operations by 2023.
A Robiofficial said that the entity submitted the proposal to the BTRC in line with the announcement.
The operator has also stopped selling 3G-supported SIMs, he said.
Though the three other mobile operators in the country are yet to make any decision over the issue, they are assessing market situation, sources said.
Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh secretary general Brigadier General (retd) SM Farhad told New Age on Sunday, ‘When a particular operator works on something, we do not give any opinion on such matter.’
‘We usually talk on an issue when all the operators collectively make any decision,’ he said.
Robi submitted the application at a time when many of the telecom operators across the globe have gone into a phase-out move from the 3G network amid the deployment of the 5G (the fifth generation) as well as the expansion of the 4G network.
In the United States, three companies have already entered into a plan to gradual phasing out the 3G network operations.
In the US, the 3G network technology was first deployed in 2002, 10 years before the launch of the service in Bangladesh.
In the US, the 4G has been around since 2010, eight years before the service was launched in Bangladesh.
In the US, operators started rolling out the 5G service from 2019.
But, the 5G service is yet to be rolled out in Bangladesh commercially.
State-owned telecom operatorTeletalk, however, started rolling out the service on a trial basis from December 2021.
The service is expected to be available on a limited scale by 2022.
In India, telecom operators are also assessing the closure of the 3G network.
In 2020, the 2G (the second generation) and 3G smartphone users in India were 10 per cent in India, according to a GSMA Intelligence report.
Asked about the proposal submitted by Robi, aBTRC official told New Age on Saturday, ‘The commission is yet to make any decision on the issue.’
The commission, however, has not rejected the Robi’sproposal to phase out the 3G network operations, the BTRC official said.
The official said that the telecom regulator was also evaluating the market situation and mulling over taking a similar move for the sector instead of allowing a particular telecom operator to implement such a move.
Asked about the proposal, BTRC vice-chairman Subrata Roy Maitra told New Age on Sunday that the commission had received the proposal but was yet to make any decision.
‘But, we have found logic against and for phase-out the 3G network strong,’ he said.
The commission has to consider the capacity of people, including those of the grassroots level, he said.
‘How the phase-out of 3G is possible at a time when all people do not have 4G-enabled handsets,’ he said.
The GSMA Intelligence report showed that in 2020 only 4 per cent of all the connections were 3G in USA.
In Bangladesh, 3G network users were 19.97 per cent, according to a BTRC statistics updated till November 2021.
The 4G network users were 38.11 per cent and the 2G network users were 41.92 per cent at that time.
Of the 18.13 crore mobile phone connections in the country, 3G users are 3.62 crore, 4G users 6.91 crore and 2G users 7.6 crore.
Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/162674/robi-applies-to-btrc-for-3g-phase-out