The telecom regulator is working towards strengthening market policies to increase competition in the sector and create additional intervention options.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has proposed some regulations to designate any company as a 'significant operator' and restrict the services they can provide. The regulator will declare a company a significant operator on the basis of its revenue and market share.

The BTRC will be able to impose different tariff structures and limit packages, officials said. 

“We are working on it and the guideline will be completed soon,” said Md Sarwar Alam, the spokesperson for BTRC.

The legal wing of the BTRC has already formulated a draft guideline and discussed it with different stakeholders like mobile, Wi-Max, IGW and IIG operators, Alam said.

The regulator had made the same move in 2011, but was refused by the government. However, this time the government itself sought the regulations, officials said.  As per the draft, a designated 'significant player' will not be able to copy offers of other operators.

“We seek to establish strong control over the market and at the same time encourage healthy competition,” said an official who was involved in formulating the regulations.

Also, the new regulations will allow operators to register complaints against any service or process, the official said, asking not to be named. Mobile operators have expressed mixed reactions to the proposed regulations.

While Grameenphone is in favour of fair competition in the market, some of the clauses in the draft appear to be vague and are in need of clarification, said Mahmud Hossain, chief corporate affairs officer of the operator. “We have raised our concerns with the regulator in our feedback and remain hopeful that those will be addressed,” he added.

The government already has a competition act, so there seems to be no need to formulate new regulations for telecoms alone, another official of Grameenphone said. 

While Banglalink, the second largest mobile operator, remains wary, Robi, the third, is welcoming the move.

“We hope, under the proposed regulations, BTRC can monitor and take action against the behaviour of all operators,” said Ekram Kabir, a vice president of Robi.

Referring to a study of International Telecommunication Union in 2009, Kabir said the move to designate large players as a 'significant operator' could be a good move for the market. 

The ITU had recommended that if any operator has more than 35 percent to 40 percent market share, the regulator can declare it a significant operator. Banglalink said they want to implement the ITU's recommendation.