BTTB's mobile phone

However, the technological development and innovative entrepreneurial ideas foiled the BTTB's capping efforts to obstruct development in communications. As a result, now the common people of Bangladesh can talk freely from almost any location.

The question is, whether it is necessary to keep this inefficient public organisation at the cost of public money any longer, when private investors can serve the purpose in a more efficient manner and without additional burden to the exchequer. Where will be the accountability? The subscribers should be refunded the excess money that was extracted out of them over the years.

I also do not understand why the government is spending public money to allow the BTTB to float mobile phones. Apart from destroying the even level playing ground and introducing mismatched competition between the private operators and the state monopoly, the calculated cost per connection would be prohibitive for the state exchequer. Imagine 250,000 lines (initially) at the investment cost of a few hundred crore taka! I am sure the investment cost per line would be more than Taka 10,000 and they will provide connection at the cheapest rate, beating their competitors. What a game!

The fortunate subscribers will mostly be selected by BTTB's standard methods. If they (BTTB) can sail through their plan, in the next few years they will be able to drive out all existing and potential private mobile and land phone operators. They will push the country again to the same depressing situation that we faced in the past. I wonder whether anybody in the government has evaluated the consequences of the move.