The government is going to restrict all illegal handsets in July this year in the country.
BTRC chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder said this while exchanging views with journalists at the BRTC office in the capital Dhaka on Thursday.
He said, “All illegal mobile handsets would be shut down permanently from July 1 this year. However, the illegal handsets that are currently being used will be allowed to register in BTRC database”.
Although there are no official statistics, according to businessmen, currently around 30 million illegal handsets are being used in the country. The BTRC has been taking steps to prevent the loss of revenue by ensuring the availability and security of counterfeit mobile sets, illegal imports, theft, health risks and counterfeit handsets.
According to the draft guidelines, operators will create this database with EMI numbers of all mobile handsets in accordance with their licensing policies.
In response to a question from another reporter, Shyam Sunder Sikder said, the quality of service of mobile operators during the stagnation of coronavirus was very poor. Surveys are being conducted to verify the quality of service of operators across the country. Strict action will be taken on the basis of the survey information.
Acknowledging the plight of customers in the 4G service, the BTRC chairman said, "We want to move forward to launch 5G services through such a predicament. I hope 5G service will launch by 2023. For this, work is underway to allocate waves and guidelines”.
