HC stays SMP curbs on GP for three months

The High Court (HC) has stayed the enforcement of significant market power (SMP) regulations on Grameenphone (GP) for three months.

The order means the country's largest mobile operator will not need prior approval from the regulator to roll out new service campaigns during the period. Its customers switching networks under the mobile number portability facility will also avoid a shorter lock-in requirement.

The stay also restores Grameenphone's inter-operator call charge to Tk 0.10 per minute, up from Tk 0.07 set under the SMP rules.

Earlier this month, an HC bench comprising Justice Foyej Ahmed and Justice Md Monjur Alam issued the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Grameenphone, according to court documents.

Alongside the stay, the bench asked officials from the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and IT and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to explain within four weeks why the SMP restrictions imposed on Grameenphone should not be rendered null and void.

In 2018, the telecom regulator introduced the SMP regulations to prevent monopolistic market practices. It set a 40 percent threshold based on customer base, revenue or spectrum holdings.

A year later, the commission assessed the market and designated Grameenphone as an SMP operator, having exceeded the threshold in both subscribers and annual revenue.

Under the SMP framework, Grameenphone faced three of the 20 possible regulatory conditions.

These included the requirement of pre-approval from the commission for each service campaign. Customers porting into the network were also subject to a shorter lock-in period than those of rival operators.

Grameenphone had challenged the SMP designation in court five years ago without success. The latest writ, which described the designation as "arbitrary and unlawful", resulted in the stay.

Tanveer Mohammad, chief corporate affairs officer of Grameenphone, said the company had sent four letters to the regulator this year seeking a review of the SMP status. Without any response from the BTRC, it filed the writ.

"The Honourable High Court Division has stayed the operation of the SMP directives. We trust that all concerned parties will duly comply with the order," he told The Daily Star.

The regulator, however, signalled a legal response. Major General (Retd) Md Emdad ul Bari, chairman of the commission, said it would challenge the HC order.

Despite the SMP restrictions, Grameenphone continues to dominate the telecom market in profit, revenue and subscriber numbers.

As of October 2025, the operator held 45.56 percent of the mobile market, according to BTRC data. Robi Axiata followed with 30.69 percent, Banglalink with 20.17 percent and state-owned Teletalk with 3.58 percent.
Smaller operators have long complained that Grameenphone's influence keeps growing, arguing that the regulator has failed to enforce other provisions of the SMP rules.

"Grameenphone has engaged in a range of anti-competitive practices that undermine fair market competition and seek to create monopolistic dominance," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer at Robi Axiata.

"As a responsible telecommunications operator, we remain fully committed to upholding a level playing field and ensuring strict compliance with all applicable laws and regulatory frameworks. In this regard, we are taking appropriate legal actions to protect and promote fair competition within the market," he told The Daily Star.