The government is not well prepared for its move to offer the 5G mobile phone internet service in the country, speakers said at a discussion on Friday.
They said the government is keen to launch the 5G service for the people of the country but the concerned bodies including the government itself and the mobile phone operators are yet to get fully ready for it.
The observations came at a discussion organised by Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumers Association in the city marking the 'Global Telecommunication and Information Society Day.'
The association's president Mohiuddin Ahmed questioned the government's readiness to roll out the service by 2020-21 as there was no tangible preparation for it.
He also said the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) arranged a mass hearing on the allegations of consumers about the telecommunication sector's services, but the outcome was still not made public.
Voice call rate and internet service charge have intermittently been raised without hearing from consumers, he further added.
Mediator operators IGW, ICX, NTTN, NNP and network providers are out of any accountability in the country, the speakers said.
The 5G service has the same features and advanced service but simultaneously it has some environmental and other effects too. Besides, more research needs to be done on to how implement it in Bangladesh and make its people from the negative impacts of it.
The users are still getting the 3G service properly while the 4G service has also been launched without necessary preparations. In such a situation, the 5G is nothing but a gimmick, they said.
Ignoring the High Court directive, operators often leak users' call records which is a grave concern, they alleged.
Engineer Utpal Chandra Das, IT expert Tanmay Malakar and Adv Abu Bakar Siddique also spoke at the event among others.
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