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The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) held its seventh public hearing on Wednesday, focusing on telecom service quality, customer grievances and key issues facing the sector.
The hybrid hearing was held at the BTRC building in Agargaon, Dhaka.
As part of the National Integrity Strategy action plan, the virtual session used the locally developed AI-powered meeting platform ‘Konvey’ alongside Zoom for journalists and other stakeholders.
BTRC Spectrum Commissioner Mahmud Hossain chaired the hearing, while Director General of the Systems and Services Division Brigadier General Shahzad Parvez Mohiuddin moderated it.
A total of 2,990 people registered online for the hearing between July 17 and July 27. The issues raised included 1,045 related to Systems and Services, 844 to Engineering and Operations, 63 to Spectrum, 19 to Legal and Licensing, and five to Enforcement and Inspection.
Key concerns included call rates and tariffs, data validity and carry-forward facilities, network coverage, SIM registration and the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR).
In his welcome speech, Mahmud Hossain said public hearings would be held every four months under Section 87 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001, as amended in 2026.
He said constructive feedback from the hearings would be incorporated into BTRC’s monitoring matrix for follow-up and resolution.
Brigadier General Shahzad Parvez Mohiuddin said 221 commission-specific issues had been resolved across different divisions out of 1,756 complaints received during the 2025 public hearing.
He said BTRC had resolved 11,279 of 13,000 complaints, achieving an overall resolution rate of 86.7%. Participation in the 2026 hearing increased by 12%, with 2,290 responses received, including 11 direct inquiries.
Responding to ISP entrepreneur Salauddin’s concerns about connectivity bottlenecks and the National Fiber Grid, BTRC said work was underway to develop a robust nationwide backbone.
The Systems and Services DG said consultations among operators had been completed and a unified policy would soon allow multiple services to be delivered through a single shared fibre line.
On a query from Jamalpur participant Rakib Raihan about high call tariffs, the Systems and Services DG said BTRC was working to reduce the existing voice call floor price below 45 paisa.
Regarding Teletalk’s rural network coverage, Director General of Engineering and Operations Brigadier General Shafiul Azam Parvez said the state-owned operator had fulfilled its rollout obligations and was continuing to expand coverage in remote and wetland areas.
Addressing Touhid Hasan’s concerns about SMS masking and delays in receiving one-time passwords (OTPs), BTRC said A2P messages were currently masked and regulatory measures were being taken to bring all SMS streams under the masking system.
Responding to Anwar Sadat’s concerns about package transparency, the commission said operators must clearly disclose all terms and conditions. It also said an automated capacity-monitoring platform had been launched.
On data carry-forward and 5G speeds, BTRC said drive tests found telecom service parameters within prescribed thresholds. It also rejected claims that internet radiation posed health hazards.
The commission said it would begin publishing monthly Quality of Service (QoS) reports from next month.
BTRC also highlighted the need for more telecom infrastructure, saying the country requires more than 70,000 telecom towers compared with the existing 56,000.
BTRC Director General of Administration Mehdi Ul Sahid, Director General of Spectrum Brigadier General Md Aminul Haque, and Director General of Legal and Licensing Ashish Kumar Kundu were also present at the hearing.
