BTRC sets minimum 4G speed at 10 Mbps, increases monitoring

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has amended the Quality of Service (QoS) guidelines to ensure the standard of telecom services. According to the new guidelines, operators must maintain a minimum 4G service speed of 10 Mbps in drive tests. The minimum call drop rate has also been reduced. Additionally, various service quality indicators have been enhanced. Operators are now required to submit monthly reports on these metrics.

The BTRC stated that the QoS benchmarks have been updated to be timely and realistic. The updated guidelines will be issued soon.

Fayez Ahmad Taiyab, Special Assistant to the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, said, "This QoS benchmark will ensure accountability among service providers in guaranteeing citizens' access to quality services in the telecommunications sector. At the same time, it will play an effective role in improving service standards."

Key Points of the Revised QoS:

· At the network level, the call setup success rate must be at least 99%, and at the district and upazila levels, it must be 98%. The call drop rate must be limited to a maximum of 1% in 2G networks and 1.5% at the upazila level.
· For data services, the 4G connection success rate must be 99% at the network level and 98.5% at the district level. The average user download speed must be at least 3.5 Mbps at the network level and 2.5 Mbps at the district level.
· In drive tests, the call setup success rate for voice services must be 98% or higher, the call drop rate (automode) must be within 2%, and the average user Mean Opinion Score (MOS) for VoLTE (Voice over LTE) must be at least 3.5. For data services, the minimum download speed has been set at 10 Mbps, and the upload speed at 2 Mbps.

Monthly Reporting for Service Quality Monitoring:

Under the new guidelines, operators must now submit key performance indicators (KPIs) related to their network quality every month. These indicators are divided into three categories: Accessibility, Retainability, and Network Integrity.

· Accessibility (Network Access and Call Setup):

These indicators measure how successfully customers can access the network and set up calls. They include Call Setup Success Rate (2G and 4G-VoLTE), Paging Success Rate, and E-RAB Setup Success Rate. Additionally, cells where these rates fall below 90% or 70% must be separately identified.

· Retainability (Ability to Maintain Connection):

These indicators assess how stable a call or data session remains after initiation. They include Call Drop Rate (2G and 4G), VoLTE Abnormal Disconnection Rate, LTE Non-Retainability, SRVCC Success Rate, and Handover Success Rate.

· Network Integrity (Overall Network Efficiency and Capacity):

These indicators evaluate how effectively the network infrastructure is performing. They include LTE PRB Utilization Rate per Base Station, User Uplink Throughput (Mbps), and the percentage of "bad samples" based on CQI/RSRQ values.

The BTRC stated that results for all indicators must be submitted as monthly averages, separately for network, district, and upazila levels. Additionally, a separate list of the 50 worst-performing cells must be submitted, where Accessibility and Retainability indicators are weak.

BTRC officials said this initiative will ensure greater transparency and accountability regarding service quality among operators. It will also help quickly identify and resolve issues in weak areas.

Industry experts believe that mandatory monthly reporting will put additional pressure on operators to maintain service quality, especially in rural and suburban areas where complaints about weak networks and frequent call drops are still common.

The revised QoS also applies to fixed internet and telephony services, as well as NTTN operators. For fixed telephone services, call drops must be within 1%, the call setup success rate must be over 99%, and call connection time must be limited to 6 seconds.

For internet services, local traffic connection time must be a maximum of 25 ms, data loss must be within 1%, and network availability must be 99% or higher. Download and upload speeds at the customer end must be at least 95% of the subscribed speed.

For NTTN operators, data loss must be a maximum of 0.01%, latency must be 5 ms, and connection jitter must be within 3 ms. Service issues on fiber networks must be resolved within 4 hours in metro areas and 6 hours in rural areas.

Under this QoS, the BTRC has set strict standards for resolving customer complaints. Non-network-related complaints must be resolved 100% within 28 days. Additionally, 90% of calls to customer service centers must be answered within 40 seconds, and all calls must be received within 90 seconds.