Move to launch SIM-less call service during disaster

FT ONLINE

The government is going to introduce a SIM-less voice call service as part of emergency response during any natural disaster.

Disaster Management Division, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and Armed Forces Division successfully carried out the trial run of the service on Wednesday.

A joint team carried out the trial run in the capital city and its outskirts Purbachal as well as Rangpur and found a successful results.

The service will give an opportunity to make a voice call to the national emergency hotline “999” or any designated emergency number using the emergency call feature of the handset through the mobile network during any disaster.

Every mobile phone, both in smart and basic phones, have an emergency calling option and the call would be generated free of cost using a mobile phone network, said an official familiar to the process.

He said around one year of involvement, they made their idea successful in Bangladesh and now the government has to decide how it would be used.

Senior Assistant Director of BTRC Md Zakir Hossain Khan informed that “It was like a normal call as the joint team tested by removing their SIMs cards and found a quality response,” he added.

The joint team aligned all the mobile operators in a single platform by taking support from a network vendor to make this initiative successful.

BTRC officials said they will direct all the mobile phone operators to facilitate this emergency service during disaster.