Felicitations to Grameen Phone

What is interesting to note here is that the number of subscribers of the state owned telephone operator BTTB has reached only 7 lakhs in the last 33 years in comparison with one million subscribers of Grameen Phone. So, the latter has become the fastest growing private enterprise in the telecommunications sector. Others can only follow the lead and aspire to be a better service provider. Grameen Phone's success probably lies in its hands-on and innovative approaches which unfortunately the public sector BTTB has been found wanting in, largely because of its snugly-held monopoly over the sector. Stories of woes faced by those who had applied for BTTB connection are often heard. While it takes only few days and fewer documents to get a mobile connection, it takes months, in some cases years, to get a BTTB connection if one goes through the normal channels.

Comparisons aside, we would urge the authorities to provide more facilities to Grameen Phone to enable them to provide better services to its subscribers. For example, all mobile-to-mobile connections of Grameen Phone which account for over 90 per cent of its total subscribers could be interconnected with the BTTB lines. The government could give them a tax break to provide better service at lower cost. Especially telephone usage by women in the villages of Bangladesh needs to be encouraged further. It can't be ignored that the company has contributed over Tk 1300 crore to the government exchequer since it rolled into business. And, lastly, time is ripe for Grameen Phone to go for perfection in terms of service-delivery based on its track-record of successes in the country's telecommunication sector.

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