Top operators GP, Robi fail to ensure 4G data speed

The country's two top mobile phone operators – Grameenphone and Robi – as well as the state-owned Teletalk have failed to meet the minimum 4G data speed in the Mymensingh division.

Among all operators, only Banglalink was found providing expected data speed in the division, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said in a report on Thursday.

Banglalink's 4G data speed was found to be 8.88Mbps against the BTRC benchmark of 7Mbps.

However, call drops in all mobile operators' networks in the division were found within the limit.

Commenting on the data speed, Banglalink's Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer Taimur Rahman said, "Banglalink's superior 4G performance in Mymensingh is a reflection of the continuous efforts we are making to enhance our overall quality of services.

"We have been holding the top position among all private operators in the country in terms of spectrum provided per customer for a long time. By acquiring a total of 9.4 MHz spectrum in the last auction, we advanced further in this respect."

Taimur Rahman said they are confident of reaching more milestones with their enhanced service-quality in the days to come and thanked their customers who have been keeping constant trust in the mobile operator.

The BTRC has prepared the report after conducting a comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) measurement through a drive test in different locations of the Mymensingh division between 21 March and 1 April 2021.

For the test, BTRC's technical team tested 626 samples of download cases in Grameenphone network, 519 in Robi, 608 in Banglalink and 340 in Teletalk network.

The average 4G download data speed of Grameenphone, the largest mobile operator, was found only 6.78Mbps while the speed was 5.83Mbps in the network of Robi, the second-largest telecom operator in Bangladesh.

State-owned Teletalk's 4G data speed was only 2.21Mbps.

This report came at a time when both Grameenphone and Robi have been claiming that their all base transceiver stations are 4G network-enabled.

No comment was found from Grameenphone on the issue.

On the other hand, Robi differed with the BTRC's drive test report and said the operator has satisfactory data speed in its network.

"We feel the average speed of mobile internet that the BTRC drive test has revealed is more than satisfactory. Technically speaking, 3mbps speed is more than enough to watch an HD quality video or for doing any task using mobile internet," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata Ltd.

"In case of data, speed mostly depends upon the number of customers available within the site at a specific time, such as peak hours, place of conducting the drive test. High concentration of customers in a particular area at a particular time of an operator would naturally have an adverse impact on data speed," he added.

The Robi official said, "For ensuring better quality, mobile operators must have at least 80 to 100 MHz of spectrum holding on average, but, we don't have that amount of spectrum allocated to us."

Currently, Grameenphone is the country' largest mobile operator having 8 crore subscribers while Robi is in the second position with a 5.15 crore subscriber base.

Meanwhile, Banglalink holds the third position with 3.59 crore users while state-owned Teletalk is at the bottom with 55 lakh subscribers, says BTRC data.