BTRC imposes restrictions on GP under SMP rules

The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has finally imposed two restrictions on Grameenphone (GP) under the Significant Market Power (SMP) guidelines, aiming to create a level playing ground for all telecom operators.

The restrictions will come into effect on July 01, according to a letter sent by the BTRC to the GP, the largest telecom operator in the country, on Sunday.

A new restriction will require the GP to take mandatory permission from the BTRC before coming up with any new offers, services, packages or call rates.

Usually, the BTRC approves packages for one year and then the operators are allowed running such packages for more than one year, subject to intimation to the commission.

The operator now also needs to seek permission for the existing services, packages and offers under the restrictions by August 31.

GP can't change or alter any offer or service without permission of the BTRC, the letter reads.

The other restriction involves reducing the mobile number portability (MNP) lock-in period from 90 days to 60 days.

That does mean any GP subscriber now can switch to other operators after 60 days under the MNP service while subscribers from other operators requires 90 days before switching to GP.

However, Grameenphone said the restrictions deviate from the objectives of the SMP regulations and are not based on evidence of market failure.

Hossain Sadat, Director, Head of Public and Regulatory Affairs of Grameenphone Ltd., said the Bangladesh mobile telecom market is competitive and Grameenphone has grown through timely investment, innovations and operational efficiency.

"The latest impositions deviate from the objectives of the SMP regulations and are not based on evidence of market failure," he said.

Mr Sadat also said these asymmetric impositions are anti-competitive in nature, which he believes are not in the interest of consumers and will have an adverse impact on the national exchequer and the investment climate.

Contacted, BTRC Senior Assistant Director Md Zakir Hossain Khan said the restrictions were imposed in line with the SMP regulations to protect the interest of customers and help create a competitive environment for all operators.

Being a regulator, the BTRC is keeping an eye on the development in the market, he said.

Another SMP rule is clipping the inter-operator call termination rate for GP by five paisa.

It means that if a Robi or Banglalink customer makes a call to GP network, Robi or Banglalink as operators would need to pay five paisa to GP. But if a GP customer makes a call to Robi or Banglalink network, the former has to pay 10 paisa to Robi or Banglalink.

The BTRC, in its letter, said it will impose other restrictions soon after scrutiny of regulations.

However, the BTRC refrained from slapping increased tariff on the GP subscribers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February last year, the BTRC declared GP as an SMP operator in an attribution that opened the path for engineering several strategic moves to curb its dominance in the local telecom market.

With the implementation of the SMP guidelines, it's expected that the large operators won't get any scope for doing monopoly business.

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