UNB, Dhaka :The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has already prepared a guideline for introducing the Mobile Number Portability System (MNPS) and is likely to hire a third party to implement it, according to officials.The MNPS enables the mobile telecom customers to change operators without changing the numbers.Talking to UNB, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Secretary Md Sarwar Alam said, “We’ve formulated a guideline to execute the MNPS which will be sent to the ministry within a few days. We’ll start our work to implement the MNPS soon if the ministry permits.”The BTRC sources said launching the MNPS service will increase the competitions among the mobile telecom operators as well as improve the standard of the service.Mahmud Hossain, the chief corporate officer of leading mobile telecom operator Grameen Phone, said, “We’ve nothing to say if the BTRC implements the MNPS through a third party.”The BTRC should consult the mobile telecom operators to install the service, or else, this may create problems to the customers, he added.Mahatab Uddin Ahmed, the chief operating officer of another leading mobile phone company Robi, said they will support the decision of the BTRC about the MNPS but the execution is not possible within five-six months.However, the BTRC sources said mobile phone operators are responsible for the delay in the MNPS execution.According to sources at the BTRC, on June 13, 2013, the commission ordered the mobile phone operators of the country to build a consortium to make the service available within seven months.However, the mobile phone operators did not respond to the BTRC proposal and requested the commission to discuss the issue with them.They also offered the BTRC to constitute a committee comprising officials of telecom operators to launch the MNPS.Following this, on May 19, 2014, the commission arranged a meeting with mobile telecom operators, ICX and IIG operators and formed a steering committee on May 21.On August 21, the committee submitted an interim progress report to the commission saying the implementation of the MNPS would take several years.Later, the BTRC arranged a mass hearing and collected public opinions the MNPS through their website.The BTRC has prepared the MNPS guideline on the basis of these opinions.So far, 72 countries have already launched the MNPS and some more countries are on the way to start the service.
