When state-owned mobile operator Teletalk launched in 2005, the company's SIM was like a golden deer among the general public. It was possible to talk on Teletalk SIM for less than any other operator. Also the price of pre-paid SIM was only Tk. 3000. At that time the prices of other mobile operators were also very high.
All in all, to get a Teletalk SIM, the sales center of Teletalk was crowded, standing in long queues made it difficult to get this SIM.
The hope with which the operator started the journey soon turned to despair. As time went by, the condition of Teletalk worsened. And so even in 18 years it could not become a profitable company.
According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) data, among the four mobile operators, Teletalk has the lowest position with 64 lakh 60 thousand subscribers where Grameenphone has 8 crore 21 lakh 40 thousand, Robi 5 crore 83 lakh 80 thousand, Banglalink 4 crore 33 lakh 80 thousand customers. Teletalk has less than 4 percent of total subscribers in the country.
Teletalk SIM usage is mandatory in some government institutions. Apart from this, application fee for admission test in various universities, application fee for job, various public examination fee has to be submitted through Teletalk.
Good offers at low prices and attractive offers for students too. Even after all this, Teletalk is not able to attract customers. On the contrary, customers are decreasing.
No one has an answer to the question why it could not get out of the circle of losses even in 18 years. Every time someone comes in as a new minister, they talk about bringing Teletalk to profit, promising to turn around. Two days later that promise is gone. The institution remains where it was. In some cases, further suppression also occurs.
Recently sitting in the ministry with responsibility, State Minister for Telecommunication and Information Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak directed all the state-owned institutions including Teletalk to bring profit by June 30.
The State Minister said that strict action will be taken against the loss-making institutions if they do not make a profit within this period. No company in the telecommunication sector can be in loss.
The State Minister's announcement was exceptional compared to other ministers. Junaid Ahmed Palak has given a specific deadline for Teletalk to become profitable.
Teletalk's business is based on state privileges and facilities. The company, which started with the aim of providing better service to the customers, now has numerous complaints against the customers.
So far the debt amount of the company is more than Tk. 5000 crore. Twice in between only saw the face of profit. The government has a debt of Tk. 2000 crore. BTRC owes the same amount. The debt to the Rural Electrification Board is over Tk. 389 crore. Apart from this, the amount of loans to private institutions, banks and lenders is Tk. 360 crore. Teletalk owes Tk. 141 crore against debt.
Recently, the revenue department of the government directed Teletalk to pay all government debts. The stakeholders feel that the way Teletalk is drowning in debt, they do not have the ability to survive. In the current financial situation it is not possible for them to pay the debts of various institutions. At the end of the day, the government may have to pay this amount.
Public institutions serve the welfare of the people by preventing monopolies in the private sector and reducing inequality in the market. These two reasons are mainly why such institutions are sustained. However, market participants feel that inefficient government institutions are nothing but a burden for the government. Rather, the beneficiaries of such institutions are some bureaucrats, who occupy various positions in these institutions.