Staff Reporter :
The 2G (Second Generation) network of mobile sets will continue in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, while 3G and 4G network to remain suspended for 13 hours from 5:00pm to 6:00am.
As a result, Rohingyas can only get the chance of ‘voice calls’ to communicate with each others for the certain period.
Just after a day, Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) retracted from the decision of suspending mobile network for Rohingyas.
The BTRC is likely to implement the restriction within seven days, its officials sources said.
Around eight lakh registered SIMs (Subscribers Identification Module) are being used in the camps provided by many locals and few officials of mobile operator companies, they said.
The Rohingyas did not submit their documents to get the SIMs, according to them.
On Monday, the BTRC issued a directive to all the mobile phone operators to stop the sale of SIM cards and mobile phone services at Rohingya camps within seven days. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take immediate steps to stop mobile phone services at Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
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, 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 issued asking all mobile operators to restrict their networks in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas as well as block networks in and around Rohingya camps.
Following the directive, mobile operators have weakened their networks on the borders with Myanmar, which include Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban.
