Bangla SMSes to cost less than English-language ones

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reduced the cost of Bangla SMSes. 

A Bangla SMS will cost Tk0.25—without VAT and taxes—while an English-language SMS will cost Tk0.50, BTRC Deputy Director Samira Tabassum said in a statement. 

The order has been issued to all chief executives of mobile operators and is expected to be implemented from Thursday, June 20. 

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar, in a Facebook status, said: “A Bangla SMS costs twice that of an English SMS as the local language has more characters than the latter one. 

“Now, there should not be any inconvenience, as from now onwards, each Bangla SMS will cost half of than that of English SMS.”

The aim behind this innovative act is to promote the mother language and motivate people more to chat in Bangla, says the letter issued by the BTRC.

According to a statistics issued by the BTRC in January, the number of mobile phone users increased by 555,000 to 150 million; while total internet users stood at 90.1 million.