Page 119 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

market dynamics. The major telecoms operators include Batelco, establishing affordable prices for high-speed access. Overall, the
STC Bahrain and Zain Bahrain. The industry is regulated by mobile broadband sector is poised for growth with 4G networks
Telecommunications Regulator (TRA) which has been working hard in place and a high mobile subscriber penetration paving the
to resolve any regulatory or spectrum hurdles in readiness for 5G. way for adoption. This BuddeComm report provides statistics
This government support, along with proactive operators, resulted and analysis on the key sectors of Bahrain’s telecom market,
in Batelco launching the first commercial 5G network in Bahrain presenting an overview of the regulatory environment, the fixed
in mid-2019. Batelco also undertook a significant operational network operators and services, telecom infrastructure, mobile
restructure in 2019 and launched Bahrain’s National Broadband operators and mobile infrastructure, supported by statistics. The
Network operated by BNET. Bahrain’s telecommunications report includes a range of subscriber forecasts through to 2024.
industry is guided by its Fourth National Telecommunications (March 31, 2020) globenewswire.com
Plan which focuses on fiber-optic infrastructure deployment and

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) customers with VoLTE-enabled handsets, he said. The VoLTE
is apparently discouraging use and trade of second generation service will only benefit a small portion of the population, said the
(2G) mobile phones, popularly known as basic or feature phones, country’s second largest carrier. “In the interest of implementing
as per letters it recently sent to listed handset importers, the vision of Digital Bangladesh, we need to make an all-out
producers and vendors. Mobile operators welcomed the move but effort to create the eco-system for a full-fledged digital society
the letter recipients say it would not be a workable approach to by increasing the use of smartphones in the market,” Alam
popularizing smartphones. About 70 per cent of the mobile phone added. Some 3.28 crore handsets were sold in the country in
users are still using 2G devices as most have no demand for 2019, about 2.51 crore of which were basic phones, according to
higher technology and the telecom regulator should not deprive local manufacturers and importers. About 54 lakh smart devices
them, they said. In the letter, the BTRC is said to be witnessing were locally manufactured last year, while another 24 lakh were
2G devices dominating the market. “The 3G mobile network has imported via the legal and grey channels, according to industry
flourished in the market and 4G services is also being offered insiders. “This picture actually tells the real truth of Bangladesh,
and the government also has a promise to enroll 5G services that the smartphone market has immense potential to grow,”
by 2023, for which basic phones need to be discouraged,” it Haque said. For that the industry needs to work together though.
read. The vendors are seeking clarity on the term “discourage”. “We never think that the market will be corrected only by issuing
Currently the letter bears no meaning, said Rezwanul Haque, Chief directives or orders.” Mobile carriers need to improve their quality
Executive Officer of Transsion Bangladesh, which assembles 2G and at the same time more and more of the digital services need
handsets of iTel brand and 4G ones of Techno brand. “We have a to be on board so that customers feel the need for smartphones,
huge number of mobile phones users in the country who do not Haque said. Bangladesh witnessed the launch of 3G services
need smartphones at all as they are using mobile phones only in October 2012 and 4G in February 2018. The regulator is now
for talking. They even cannot text or save phone numbers in their formulating the 5G guidelines. (March 11, 2020) thedailystar.net
handsets so why will the regulator make them use smartphones?”
A basic phone costs only Tk 750 but for smartphones at least Tk Bangladesh ended January 2020 with 165.61 million mobile
3,000 is required and this extra spending will either be meaningless phone subscribers, up from 165.57 million in December 2019,
or unbearable for them, said Haque, a former general secretary according to data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication
of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association. There are Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Grameenphone maintained its
also challenges regarding network quality across a huge part of customer base at 76.46 million, followed by Robi Axiata with
the country. “This is why the youths who need or even want to 49.32 million, up from 49 million the previous month. Banglalink
use smartphones are not doing so,” Haque added. Dismissing had 34.94 million mobile customers, down from 35.23 million,
the analysis, mobile phone operators said it was a much-needed while Teletalk ended January 2020 with 4.87 million mobile
direction and true advancement towards the vision of a Digital customers, which represents a slight increase from 4.86 million
Bangladesh. Shahed Alam, Chief Corporate and Rgulatory Officer mobile customers in the previous month. The report also shows
at Robi, said their 4G network currently covers 75 per cent of that there were 99.24 million internet subscribers at 31 January
the country’s population, whereas 4G handset penetration had 2020, down from 99.42 million in December 2019. The fixed-line
stalled at less than 30 per cent of mobile subscribers. “This internet user base was little changed at 5.74 million, while mobile
clearly shows that a significant portion of our network capacity internet users totaled 93.49 million, down from 93.68 million the
is remaining underutilized.” Moreover, although Robi has become previous month. Internet subscribers are defined as people who
the country’s first mobile carrier to introduce voice over long have used the internet at least once in the past 90 days.
term evolution (VoLTE) technology, it does not have that much (March 2, 2020) telecompaper.com

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