Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has temporarily withdrawn an order issued against leading mobile operators Robi and Banglalink to stop their telecommunication value-added services (TVAS).
The regulator had issued the order earlier on Monday after a probe revealed that subscribers were being charged for the service by the operators without their knowledge.
“We spoke to both mobile operators and they admitted to their faults and vowed to rectify the matter. They have been informed about the temporary withdrawal of the order,” BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder told bdnews24.com.
Content providers of Robi and Banglalink, however, will not be affected by the move, according to Sikder.
“This is an important issue as many services, including news alerts, are provided through it. We have given them until the next commission meeting to resolve it. We’ll make the final decision once the problems are solved,” he said.
Both operators had asked their content providers to stop the TVAS from Monday following the BTRC directive.
“We had to give directives to our content providers and initiate the process to stop the service after receiving the BTRC order. The regulators, however, withdrew the decision on Tuesday morning. Therefore, the content providers will face no problems,” said a senior official at Robi Axiata.
At least 182 registered TVAS operators are providing services at present, according to the BTRC.
The TVAS operators provide services like news alert, songs, video and welcome tune for the four mobile operators in the country.
The TVAS sector has an annual turnover of Tk 2.0 billion, according to high-ups in the telecommunications industry. Services such as news alerts, banking, insurance, telemedicine would have been affected had the regulator's order been implemented, with the customers suffering for it.
On Nov 12, BTRC asked for an explanation from telecom operators Robi and Banglalink for charging subscribers for the service without their permission.
Following the complaint, the regulator ordered the mobile operators to report back in a week, explaining why all TVAS should not be stopped.
It also ordered that all TVAS provided through the content providers be stopped in the same notice.
The telecom firms subsequently held discussions with the BTRC and reached a resolution, according to officials of both operators.
