Staff Reporter :
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar has directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take immediate steps to stop mobile phone services at Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Following the instruction, BTRC on Monday issued a directive to all the mobile phone operators to stop the sale of SIM cards and providing mobile phone services at Rohingya camps within seven days.
The notice was issued following allegations of providing mobile phone services to Rohingyas through selling of SIM cards by mobile phone operators defying a government embargo.
The telecom regulatory authority has written the operators on Sunday regarding the issue, BTRC Senior Assistant Director Md Zakir Hossain Khan told the media.
“All mobile phone companies have been instructed to ensure that the Rohingya people do not get access to the mobiles for the sake of state security and importance, law and order, and public safety, he said.
On October 10 in 2018, the BTRC asked all mobile operators to restrict their networks in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas as well as block networks in and around Rohingya camps.
Officials said, following the directive, mobile operators have weakened their networks in the border areas along with Myanmar, which include Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban.
Soon afterwards, complaints from subscribers in the areas started to pour in about the poor network quality, said a senior telecom executive, seeking anonymity.
Around 120 base stations in the border areas have been restricted under the directive, causing network disruption in Cox’s Bazar, said the telecom executive.
