State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Wednesday said they are going to form a high-powered committee to investigate Teletalk’s alleged involvement in corruption, illegal VoIP and other irregularities.
“We will select academicians, stake holders, IT experts and researchers within 2/3 days to form the committee . . . nobody will be incorporated in the committee who has ‘conflict of interest’ with Teletalk,” she said at her maiden visit to the state-owned lone cellular phone operator office.
The state minister said officials of telecom ministry, regulator and Teletalk will be kept away from the committee.
Defining the formation of the committee and investigation, Tarana said, “Investigation is to find out if there is corruption and irregularities, and to find-out the real scenario”.
With 42 lakh subscriber base, the operator is offering 3G and other services but failed to achieve customers’ satisfaction due to poor network coverage.
Directing the operator to become self-reliant, Tarana Halim advised Teletalk to go for rebranding.
“Teletalk is needed to expand its business towards making a sustainable base in the market. So, I suggested for a quick rebranding as well as minimizing of the existing problems especially development of customer care and balance recharge which would be possible shortly,” she added.
The state minister directed the Teletalk to recruit fresh blood and train them up for offering quality services from the customer care. She also suggested for expansion of area-based retailers for making SIM and balance recharge available.
Tarana, however, said the government has taken plans for the development of Teletalk. So the operator has to work in line with the government strategy, she added.
