General mobile phone traders have announced a programme to besiege the office of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). From Sunday morning, they will begin staging a sit-in in front of the BTRC office located in Agargaon in the capital.
Earlier, on 3 December, mobile phone traders staged protests and chanted slogans by blocking the road in front of Jamuna Future Park in the Pragati Sarani area, demanding reform of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), the abolition of syndicate practices, and the introduction of open import facilities for mobile phones.
Prior to that, on 30 November at 10:00am, as part of a previously announced programme, mobile phone traders and shop employees from various shopping malls gathered in the Karwan Bazar–Panthapath area after keeping their shops closed and formed a human chain.
At the time, they said that the implementation of NEIR would harm hundreds of thousands of traders and their families. They also claimed that the new system would benefit a particular group and that mobile phone prices would rise due to increased taxes.
According to a government decision, the NEIR system will be introduced from 16 December to ensure security in the telecommunications sector and prevent the use of unregistered mobile phones. The system is expected to stop the use of unregistered, stolen, or unauthorised imported mobile phones on the country’s mobile networks, according to relevant authorities.
Khaborwala/SS
