Telecom sector regulator Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has sought an explanation from Grameenphone (GP) due to the sudden disruption of their telecommunication services.
On Thursday GP had a network outage for more than two hours from 12:15 to 2:00 pm due to fiber optic cable disconnection. A large number of customers were temporarily unable to make calls due to this service disruption.
GP users in different areas of the country including Dhaka and Chittagong were not getting mobile network at this time of outage. As a result, apart from talking, internet service was also not available.
However, in the situation that arose, an urgent letter was sent to the CEO of Grameenphone by BTRC, seeking an explanation on the same day.
In the letter signed by Director of BTRC (Engineering and Operations Department) Md. Golam Razzak said that in view of the large number of complaints received by the customers, it is known that there is disruption in the access to the mobile network of the nationwide mobile phone operator GP.
Considering the number of subscribers of Grameenphone as the top mobile operator of the country, all categories of customers are suffering due to the fact that the customers are hindered in getting the mobile network.
In this situation, considering the state of national emergency, instructions have been given to take necessary steps to ensure GP's network across the country on an urgent basis, along with the explanation of the exact cause of the Grameenphone network failure.
On the other hand, GP authority in an emergency press briefing informed that due to sudden fiber-optic cable cut during road maintenance in Dhaka, Tangail, Sirajganj and Gazipur areas, some of its users faced connectivity disruptions while making calls and using the internet.
However, the network was restored within a brief span of time. To ensure that customers do not face issues for a prolonged period of time, Grameenphone network teams responded immediately and were able to restore the network in a seamless manner.
GP Head of Network Services Abul Kasem Mohiuddin Al-Amin said, “Today’s incident was unwanted, caused by forces which were beyond our control. Our dedicated team acted fast to restore the multiple fibre cuts and also managed to stabilize the sudden surge in call attempts gradually.”
“Due to disruption in fibre cut during road maintenance in Gazipur, Tangail and Sirajganj areas, some of our customers were facing connectivity problems. However, the situation has been brought under control and all the issues are currently resolved,” said Khairul Basher, Head of Communications, GP.
