BTRC set to assess mobile operators' service quality

The telecom regulator's plan to assess the quality of data, voice and video call services offered by the mobile operators is one step closer to fruition with the arrival of all the required equipment in the capital.

The Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission is expected to kick off the drive within the next two weeks at random spots in the capital.

Through the drive the BTRC will look to gauge the mobile operators' data speed, call set-up time, call success rate, call drop rate and call quality.

Until now, the telecom watchdog had to rely on reports prepared by the mobile operators themselves on their quality of service, the accuracy of which was open to debate.

Subsequently, the BTRC could not properly penalise the operators for poor service.

“We are giving top priority to ensuring quality services for users and this drive is a part of that process,” said BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood.

The drives will later be conducted in Chittagong and in other cities as well. The BTRC has appointed Anite Finland Ltd, a leading supplier of wireless air interface tools for measurement and analysis, to conduct independent assessment of the mobile operators' service quality on a regular basis.

Anite will provide periodical reports on call drops, call generation time, call clarity, quality of the data transferring process and time, and other aspects of service quality, said BTRC officials.

The Finnish company will be paid $293,000 for the entire service.

The operators will be ranked in terms of their service quality and the reports will be made public.  BTRC officials said they will be able to get the real picture as a result and take action accordingly.

The telecom watchdog is yet to take a decision on whether it would run the tests along with Anite or leave the task entirely on the Finnish company's shoulders.

Once the quality assessment drives take off, the telecom regulator will move to amend the service quality guideline to better define what constitutes the acceptable level of service, Mahmood said.

“It was a long pending decision, but this time we are serious. When we start to get this information, operators will certainly try to improve their service quality and that is our main goal,” he added.

But the mobile operators demanded that they should be consulted before the parameters are set for what constitutes acceptable service quality.

As part of its efforts to improve the service quality, the telecom regulator organised a public hearing in November last year; similar programmes will be arranged in Chittagong and Rajshahi as well, according to the BTRC chairman.

The BTRC also introduced a system to receive feedback from customers on the five operators' service quality. A total of 7,561 complaints were received between May and October last year.

In a recent development, afflicted customers have started lodging complaints with the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection. So far, the organisation fined the top three mobile operators in three separate cases.

Source: thedailystar