Bangladesh’s telecoms minister reportedly warned the country’s telcos on Sunday that they will be forced to compensate for mobile call drops, while the country’s regulator is turning to AI to deal with complaints.
According to the Daily Star, State Minister for Telecom and ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak met mobile operator representatives on Sunday in a gathering organised by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to discuss service quality.
Palak said on his official Facebook page that mobile customers frequently complain about call drops and inconsistent coverage. Another common complaint is inconsistent quality of 4G services, the report said.
"Recent inspections and tests conducted by BTRC in various locations across the country indicate that the quality of service provided by mobile operators does not meet the promised standards," Palak said.
Palak said that stricter measures will be implemented to ensure customer service starting from today, although he didn’t specify what the measures would entail.
The news comes after BTRC announced on Friday that it would implement an AI-based CRM system and increase the capacity of its call centre to resolve customers' complaints faster and more efficiently.
The BTRC call centre – which first launched in 2016 – handles customer complaints via the short code 100. According to a separate Daily Star report, the BTRC met with Palak to discuss wats to modernise the call centre.
Palak reportedly advised the regulator to consult with private companies to establish the call centre and make use of AI and machine learning to resolve complaints faster.
Genex Infosys currently runs BTRC’s call centre under a three-year contract signed in 2022. That contract will expire in January 2025, the report said.
The report also noted that BTRC's call centre fielded over 10,900 complaints from March 2023 to February 2024, with around 85% of them resolved.
