The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has been asked to provide diesel for free to keep the mobile network towers operational in the flood-hit Feni district.
Nahid Islam, adviser for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, issued the directive on Saturday, according to a press release signed by the ministry’s Public Relations Officer Muhammad Jasim Uddin.
Citing the adviser, the release stated that due to the lack of electricity, a significant amount of diesel is required to keep 78 out of the 653 towers in Feni operational. Therefore, BTRC has been instructed to provide the necessary diesel to the mobile operators' generators free of charge to maintain these towers.
The ministry also added that, following the Adviser's directive, the funds for this diesel will be provided from BTRC's Social Responsibility Fund.
According to the release, 6,552 liters of diesel are used daily across the 78 generators, costing a total of Tk714,168 per day.
The free diesel supply will continue until electricity transmission is restored to normal.
