EMERGENCY TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS
BTRC to ask operators to start service soon
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will soon ask the mobile phone operators to introduce toll-free numbers for the users to connect with
emergency services like hospitals, fire and police.
BTRC officials said the commission would soon sit with the stakeholders to finalise the toll-free number service as per the National Numbering Plan.
They also said the mobile phone companies are delaying the service as it will cut their revenue.
‘We have speeded up the procedure as the issue is pending for long. We will sit with the stakeholders soon to discuss the detail procedure of the emergency toll-free numbers,’ said a BTRC official.
He said although the licensing guideline of the mobile phone operators made introduction of emergency toll-free number mandatory but the operators were yet to start the service.
‘People make several calls to reach the proper authorities during crisis. If the toll-free numbers come into service then mobile phone companies will lose some business as the user will dial only one number and that will also be free. That is why the operators are delaying the service,’ he said.
The BTRC in recent draft of Customer Protection Guideline mentioned that toll-free number will be made mandatory for the mobile phone operators.
The toll-free emergency numbers will be for police, ambulances, hospitals, fire services, coast guards, border guards and immigration services, said the draft guideline.
BTRC officials said a separate entity will be formed for central monitoring of the emergency toll-free numbers.
‘The users will call the emergency numbers in extreme situations so to route the emergency calls the mobile operators need to provide geographical data of the users to the central monitoring unit,’ said the BTRC official.
‘So that the central unit will inform the closest concerned agency to respond to the incident,’ he said.
Earlier, the BTRC made the customer care number of mobile phone companies toll-free.
-With New Age input