Bdnews24.com . Dhaka
The government will investigate the failure of state-run fixed and mobile phone operators to woo new customers, the post and telecommunications minister has told Bdnews24.com.
‘Land phone was out of reach of the people in the past. The people had to wait for two-three years after submitting application. They had to pay Tk 20,000 to 30,000,’ Raziuddin Ahmed Razu told Bdnews24.com on Thursday.
‘Now the situation has changed. The call tariff and connection fee have been cut. Customers can talk at Tk 0.10 to Tk 0.15 a minute.
‘The connection process has been made easy, as well. New technology has been introduced. However, the previous governments did not concentrate on [the expansion of the land phone operator].’
‘We will take the measures t0 make it popular again,’ the minister said.
‘We saw long queues for Teletalk. We will investigate to find out why the company fell behind.’
According to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, mobile operator Teletalk has 8.4 lakh customers and BTCL 8.72 lakh until January.
The ministry sources said a project on expansion of Teletalk’s network had been approved Wednesday. Under the plan, 700 base towers will be installed across the country. State-run Telephone Shilpa Sangstha will jointly implement the project with a foreign company.
Razu said, ‘The condition is similar in the postal department. The ministry will take steps to make it more dynamic.
‘The postal service office will begin receiving, handling and delivering overseas remittance,’ he said.
‘Mail carriers will also be provided with mobile phones for ease of their work and to provide phone services, like local shops do at present, to those without phones,’ he added.
‘We are also planning to recruit a larger postal workforce. Already we have talked with the finance minister on the issue.’
According to the ministry, around 9,000 post offices are spread throughout the country.
But the state-run postal service has failed to maintain its popularity in the face of competition with private courier
services.
Courtesy of www.newagebd.com
