No phone purchased before next December 16 will be blocked, said Mahmud Hossain, Commissioner, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Thursday (November 27).

“Measures are being taken to bring all existing handsets in the market under legal channels for the sake of public security and a full solution will come by December,” he said while speaking as chief guest at a seminar organised by Telecom and Technology Reporter's Network, Bangladesh (TRNB).

“Network quality depends significantly on the quality of mobile handsets. After the NEIR rollout, the commitment given by traders to keep prices unchanged must be upheld,” he said.

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Stressing the need to eliminate misinformation and confusion, the BTRC chairman also assured users that no phone purchased before December 16 will be blocked.

In a bid to restore market discipline and enhance security, the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) service is set to be launched on Victory Day.

Business representatives dismissed fears that handset prices might rise after NEIR becomes operational. The price will not go up—not even by one taka, they said.

When asked about the security of the NEIR system, BTRC Director-General Aminul Haque said, “It’s not impossible—unless the BTRC DG himself is compromised! Once NEIR is launched, customers will be able to block lost or stolen phones from home.”

Giving assurance that handset prices will not rise, the Mobile Phone Industrial Owners of Bangladesh (MIOB) President Zakaria Shahid said, “NEIR is not a private initiative—it is a matter of national security. No one can oppose it unless they have ulterior motives.”
He added that the tax structure needs to be more flexible to increase mobile phone penetration in the country.

“Businesses do not want to operate outside the law,” he said.

Read more: BTRC to deactivate extra SIMs beyond limit from Saturday

He also urged authorities to move away from excessive restrictions imposed in the name of protecting local industries.

Distributor Association President Abdullah Al Harun Raju said only a very small number—around 500 to 1,000 people—are involved in grey-market phone trading. “Out of 20,000 sales workers, around 18,000 sell legally channelled phones,” he said.