The telecom division yesterday sent back the proposal for voice call rate hike to the telecom regulator for revision after holding proper consultations with stakeholders.

There is a concern that the cost of using telecom services will rise at the end-user level, Tarana Halim, state minister for telecom, told reporters at her office yesterday. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission recently made a surprise move to adjust the mobile call rates, which, if implemented, would increase the consumers' call expenditure by about 15 percent.

"Our main agenda is to provide better services at a low-cost - that's why we sent it back to BTRC for revision, " Tarana added.

In its proposal the BTRC recommended an increase in the minimum on-net call rate to Tk 0.35 per minute from existing Tk 0.25, and cut the off-net rate down to Tk0.45 per minute from Tk 0.60.

The price adjustment would have brought the three private operators - Grameenphone, Robi and Banglalink - Tk 121 crore in additional monthly revenue. State-owned Teletalk though would lose Tk 4 crore a month. The private mobile operators earlier welcomed the move but now they are also seeking consultations, said a top official of an operator.

"We would like to request the regulator to discuss the matter with the industry before taking any further decision," said TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, yesterday.

Subsequently, BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood said they will now go for further discussions on the issue and make revisions accordingly.

The revised proposal might be placed at the next commission meeting, scheduled for August 16.

In its commission meeting at the end of July, the telecom regulator decided to implement the proposed call rate, subject to the approval of the government, on a temporary basis and also planned to arrange a proper consultation with experts from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Wishing not to be named, a top official of the telecom regulator said the government will not go for a move like this just before an election year. The BTRC also proposed slashing the maximum voice call rate to Tk 1.5/minute from Tk 2 now, said another official.

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However, insiders say the change in ceiling rate would not have much of an impact because this level of call rate is now very rare.

In 2010, after a cost modelling study, the telecom regulator with assistance from the ITU fixed the floor and ceiling rates for voice call.

Before that there was no official study from the regulator and call rates used to be set arbitrarily. Back then, the call rate ranged between Tk 7 andTk 10 per minute.