Dhaka: Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant on Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb has strongly criticized the previous Awami League government for the deteriorated state of Teletalk, the state-owned mobile phone network operator. He alleged that the Awami League’s negligence led to the company nearing collapse.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Taiyeb expressed his concerns over Teletalk’s limited infrastructure, highlighting that it has only one-fifth of the number of 2G towers and a mere tenth of 4G towers compared to private operators. This inadequacy has significantly affected Teletalk’s capacity to deliver quality voice and internet services.
Taiyeb further elaborated on the issue through his verified Facebook page, revealing that Teletalk has been operating with less spectrum allocation than its competitors nationwide. Despite the company’s repeated requests for appropriate spectrum allocation since its inception, it has not received proportionate allocation in any spectrum band compared to other operators.
He noted that although there was significant public demand for Teletalk SIMs in its early days, the operator failed to acquire a substantial subscriber base over the years due to its weak management. Taiyeb blamed the previous government for leaving Teletalk in a non-functional state, which has become a major challenge for the current administration.
Taiyeb emphasized the difficulties in providing quality services with minimal infrastructure and pointed out that new challenges have arisen in rural areas where Teletalk lacks investment, leading to wastage of spectrum. He mentioned that upon taking charge, it was discovered that Teletalk had insufficient spectrum for 4G services and lacked investment for utilizing available spectrum effectively.
He criticized the previous government’s lack of visionary planning and investment, which resulted in an inadequate number of base transceiver station sites and underutilized allocated spectrum. However, Taiyeb noted that in remote areas like Sundarbans, haor regions, and hilly areas, Teletalk’s network coverage is relatively better, although spectrum shortages persist.
Taiyeb proposed converting the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s outstanding dues into equity to resolve Teletalk’s spectrum allocation issues. He suggested that similar to neighboring countries, spectrum could be allocated to Teletalk through an executive order to avoid future complications.
He highlighted that as a state-owned company, Teletalk’s spectrum acquisition relies on government funds, and outstanding dues among ministries are a common scenario. The ministry has no intention of halting Teletalk’s spectrum allocation, recognizing its role as a strategic service provider.
Taiyeb concluded by stating the importance of gathering expert opinions and citizen expectations to determine the appropriate policy for spectrum allocation to state-owned mobile network service providers, ensuring disaster-prone area coverage, maintaining market competition, and protecting consumer-friendly pricing standards.