Buy handsets with ease
The telecom regulator has finalised a directive that will soon allow those with no credit card to enjoy equal monthly instalment facility to purchase high-end smartphones from mobile operators.
A longstanding demand of the carriers, the move is expected to boost 4G-enabled handset penetration in the market, enabling operators to better monetise their investment on 4G.
Currently, only about 30 percent of the mobile handsets in use in Bangladesh are smartphones.
The EMI will be for six months and the handsets will be locked to the network until then, said a senior official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission related with the process.
Failure to clear the dues will lead to the phone being blocked by the vendor, rendering the handset unusable.
The handsets, which would carry the mobile operator's logo as well as the vendor's, can have no less than 1GB RAM and 8GB storage space and be compatible with 900, 1,800 and 2,100 spectrum bands.
The handsets must not cost more than the regular market price, and the mobile operators can run advertising campaigns to market them, as per the directive.
“This is a global practice and most of the developed countries have adopted this facility quite a few years back,” said Md Jahirul Haque, acting chairman of the BTRC.
The directive, which was finalised in a recent meeting of the telecom regulator, will be issued within the next couple of working days.
“Besides, we have taken this step to accelerate the digitisation process,” he said, adding that it was a longstanding demand of the mobile operators as smartphone penetration was not increasing at the rate they were expecting.
As of June, there are 60 lakh 4G mobile connections in the country and about six crore 3G connections. But the smartphone numbers are not that high.
Handset imports increased 9.6 percent year-on-year to 3.4 crore units in 2017, but smartphone imports did not see any rise.
In 2017, around 82 lakh smartphones were imported, according to the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association. The trend continued this year too, when 37.89 lakh units were brought in to the country in the first six months.
The development is a cause for alarm for mobile operators as they built their network for the fastest mobile data by investing billion of dollars, they said.
Their investment would go to waste if smartphone numbers do not increase.
“We welcome the telecom regulator's move,” said Ekram Kabir, a vice president of Robi Axiata.
Thanks to the directive, customers can now use smartphones with high configurations at a minimum price and instalment facilities.
“This will also strengthen the customer-operator relationship,” Kabir added.
