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A Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) official said 2,990 people have registered for the commission’s seventh public hearing on telecommunications services, which begins today (Wednesday).
The hearing is being held as part of the National Integrity Strategy Action Plan. For the second time, the BTRC is conducting the hearing online through Convay, a locally developed artificial intelligence-based virtual meeting platform.
However, experts have raised concerns about whether an online-only format can ensure the broad public participation expected from a public hearing.
The online session will begin at 10am today and remain open to registered participants, subject to the maximum capacity of the system. Media professionals have also been invited to join through a Zoom link in addition to Convay.
The BTRC had invited individuals and organisations interested in participating to submit questions, opinions and recommendations on telecommunications services and related issues. After reviewing the registrations and relevance of the submitted issues, the commission selected participants and questioners and provided them with access to the hearing. Meeting IDs and passwords were sent to them by email or SMS.
Questions over online accessibility
Some experts believe that holding the hearing entirely online could limit public access and participation. A significant portion of internet users in Bangladesh do not have equal access to smartphones, laptops or personal computers. As a result, relying solely on an online platform could restrict the participation of ordinary consumers.
Meanwhile, people who had registered for the hearing earlier were contacted by phone and reminded to join on time. Some participants, however, reportedly faced difficulties after being asked to note down meeting IDs and passwords over the phone.
Second hearing on Convay
This is the second time the BTRC is holding its public hearing through Convay, an AI-based virtual meeting platform developed by local company Synesis IT.
The BTRC’s third public hearing was held online in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its sixth hearing, held through Convay on November 25, 2025, also featured a wide range of complaints concerning telecommunications services.
The BTRC held its first public hearing at its headquarters on November 22, 2016, focusing on poor voice-call quality and biometric-related problems. Four more hearings were held in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
The sixth hearing, held through Convay on November 25, 2025, received around 1,500 complaints.
Key complaints raised
The previous Convay hearing featured complaints about difficulties in obtaining Mobile Number Portability (MNP) services at customer-care centres, alleged use of muscle power at the ISP reseller level, failure to notify customers before SIM cards were deactivated after 11 months, and unauthorised deductions for value-added services (VAS).
Participants also raised issues involving audit dues of three mobile operators, alleged unfair competition involving Grameenphone, Teletalk’s network expansion, and the introduction of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls through applications.
Representatives from government, semi-government and autonomous bodies, service providers, mobile users, consumer-rights organisations, professionals, law-enforcement agencies, mobile-phone customer associations, BTRC licensees and their associations, as well as general consumers, have participated in the hearings.
According to BTRC data, more than 29,000 complaints have been submitted through the six public hearings held over the past decade. Most complaints concerned call drops, slow internet, poor network coverage, mobile data and call rates, VAS and SIM ownership-related problems.