Whither rural telephone?

What our BTRC (Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission) is thinking? Nothing much, judging from the way the government-controlled BTTB is handling the telephone sector for more than a decade of suppressing supply over the huge demand for cheap telephone sets even in the cities.

The policies in the telecom sector have always lagged behind the market realities, till the mobile sector was opened to the private sector, and now see the resulting boom.

Lured by this lucrative business, the BTTB is entering the mobile sector by coming December. The goal is not cheap, efficient service, but self-help behind the scenes, as we saw how the fixed telephone business became a victim of monopoly and corrupt practices. The image of the public sector has been ruined for ever (besides, that socialist era is gone).

Competition is an automatic regulator. It is time to trim the age-old fat from the ungainly body of ugly, shapeless BTTB.