Sheba Phone to extend mobile wireless service for rural people

Sheba Phone, an enterprise of Integrated Services Limited (ISL) under a private sector organisations will extend wireless telephone service in order to meet the much-awaited demands of the deprived segment of the rural population of the country.

Stating this at Hotel Sheraton on Monday, the Chairman and Managing Director of ISL Afzal Hossain Chowdhury said ISL will install 100-125 wireless telephones in each upazila's various markets, business centres and important locations of 246 upazilas and Sadar upazilas under 34 districts of the country's South East and South West regions by next December 2005.

Chowdhury said that an agreement was signed between Integrated Services Limited and Alvarion, one of the leading telephone companies of the world based in the USA's Silicon Valley to implement the first phase of the project. The first phase project cost will be Taka 100 crore including foreign exchange component, he added.

Chairman of ISL remarked the T&T Board's installations are available in all the Sadar upazilas and the base station of Sheba Phone will be installed in each of the Sadar upazilas therefore, he said that would 34 Sheba base stations and all of them will have interconnections with one another. Besides, subscribers of all base stations would be connected through Sheba Phone with three centres established in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna, he added. Sheba Phone will also try to establish interconnectivity with all other mobile telephone operators of the country in addition to T&T Board's interconnection. This will enable Sheba Phone subscribers to talk to the subscribers of all local and foreign operators round the clock without any problem through this highly developed technology, Afzal Hossain Chowdhury further added.

The Chairman and Managing Director of ISL informed, considering the economic condition of rural Bangladesh the Sheba Phone has fixed its low tariff in comparison with T&T Board's local and foreign tariffs. When installed this wireless telephone connection the rural people will be highly benefited, he added. Chowdhury further informed that ISL obtained license from the Government in 1994 for providing telecom facilities in all upazilas of the country's south east and south west regions. This was initiated under joint venture with Malaysia Telecom and Sheba Telecom Private Limited.

The Press conference was addressed by Miss Barbara S Keary, Economic Officer, US Embassy in Dhaka and W Patric Duncan, Managing Director, Alvarion, Limited Asia Pacific.

Submarine Cable Project - Bangladesh

Update ***

May 21 ***

Submarine cable opens today - Bangladesh to join global information superhighway

Bangladesh embarks onto the global information superhighway today (21st May) as Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is scheduled to inaugurate the submarine cable at its landing station at Cox's Bazar coast.

The commissioning of the new systems sets a landmark in the country's telecommunications and information communication technology sector as it will tremendously enhance the performance and capacity in this field, said officials of the Telecommunications Ministry.

They viewed that the capacity of telecommunications and data transfer would be greatly enhanced from the present level, giving a high-speed, low-priced Internet and telecommunications gateway to the users to catch up with the fast-moving world.

Bangladesh earlier signed an agreement with 12 other countries under a consortium in 2004 to implement a mega-project at a cost of Tk 628 crore for installing the submarine cable down the seabed.

The consortium called South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe-4 was formed to implement the project for connecting the country with undersea optical fibre passing from Singapore through Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and a number of Middle-Eastern countries to finally land in France.

Now the county will have a 10-gigabyte data-transfer capacity a second, 68 times higher than the current speed, the official said about the benefits the nation is going to reap-though a bit late.

Earlier, Bangladesh had missed the bus to get onto the information superhighway by not joining the group when the submarine cable passed through the Bay of Bengal.

The capacity is considered adequate for the next 10 years and the submarine cable has a life of 15 years.

The state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) and over 100 Internet service providers (ISP) now have a 150-megabyte data-transfer capacity per second, the officials claimed.

Also, the submarine cable link is going to provide the infrastructure for large-scale software export and scope for investment in the knowledge economy.


Submarine link opens today but not for users

On the eve of the inauguration of submarine cable system that will connect Bangladesh to the information superhighway, the ISP Association of Bangladesh yesterday expressed its concerns that due to lack of local infrastructures, the country's 25 lakh(2.5 Million) internet users will face major disappointments.

The country has not prepared any network to support the use of this high bandwidth which will be available with the submarine cable. The country has not even decided when this network will be set up or completed.

Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of the association, said the country may be deprived of the benefits of having this cable system because till date the government has not fixed a "bandwidth policy", or fixed a price for availing the bandwidth to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The BTTB has not set up collocation facility in all of its exchanges. The country has not also determined any backup for the submarine cable system.

May 1 ***

The BTTB again missed the deadline for the inauguration of the submarine cable as the Prime Minister's Office failed to make a schedule for the prime minister.

After missing several deadlines, the telephone board said the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, would inaugurate the submarine cable on April 30.

'The installation and testing of the fibre optic cable has already been completed, and now it is ready for use,' the project director, Monwar Hossain, said.

Hesfibel and Harris Corporation, the contractors of the cable installation projects sources said the total installation of 156 KM optic cable, commissioning of microwave link between Cox's Bazar and Chittagong and up gradation of the existing optic-fibre link between Dhaka and Chittagong have been completed.

He said the board is now waiting for the prime minister's schedule to open the undersea cable which will improve overseas voice and data communication, and meet the growing demand for international traffic by using high quality international fibre optic circuits.

Earlier, the installation of 156 kilometres fibre optic cable between the Cox's Bazar landing station and Chittagong had been completed which would enable the board to make available the capacity of the undersea cable in the national network.


It is expected that PM Khaleda Zia will inaugurate submarine cable earlier May at Zhilanja in Cox's Bazar.


*** Meanwhile, regarding submarine cable benefit, IT experts and Internet service providers of the country expressed their concern that, although it would be opened, how long it would take to reach the benefit to the user's end is still uncertain as some related issues, including the rate of bandwidth, its distribution system, and non-discriminatory policy and regulation are yet to be finalised.



January 14 `2005

Submarine cable facilities NOT before late April

Internet users will have to wait till April to avail facilities of the submarine cable as construction of Cox's Bazar-Chittagong optical fibre link will not be completed before then.

Sources in the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board said although installation of fibre optic cable was expected to be completed by February, it will not be possible before March due to slow implementation.

'The facilities of the submarine cable will be available in the national network after installation of an optic fibre link between Cox's Bazar landing station and Chittagong,' said and official of the board, the implementing agency of the project.

A Turkish company, Hesfibel, won the Tk 28 crore contract to lay about 165 kilometres of fibre optic cable in a re-tender as the cabinet committee on public procurement citing corruption, rejected the offer of a German company, Siemens, which was selected from the first tender.

The official said as per the contract, Hesfibel will complete the job by April, but the government wants to have it done by February.

A coordination meeting of posts and telecommunications ministry in the last week of December, chaired by the telecommunications minister Aminul Haque, asked the board to speed up the process and finish in due time.

Bangladesh has already been connected with the 16-party consortium of the 20,000km SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable project as the consortium members inaugurated the high capacity cable on December 13 in Dubai. The cable stretches from France to Singapore.

As a consortium member, the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board has to spend Tk 657 crore for laying the submarine cable.

December 13

Submarine cable officially opens

The high capacity fiber-optic submarine cable has officially been inaugurated and declared operational yesterday connecting Bangladesh with international super highway. Initially the country got connected with Middle East by 120 out of 220 channels of this submarine cable.

The announcement was made at a high profile meeting of the 16-member consortium held at Grand Hyatt in Dubai attending by representatives of all consortium partners, guests and media personalities.

Chairman of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), Abdul Maleque Akhand, representing Bangladesh in the consortium meeitng, termed the submarine cable, which now ready for service, as a symbol of international cooperation.

"This cable will enable Bangladesh to join the international super highway, bring international telecom services within the reach of common people and open up opportunity for rapid growth of ICT in Bangladesh," he said.

The BTTB Chairman hoped that all concerned would do their best to utilization the cable capacity properly and reach its benefit to the end-users.The consortium comprising leading global telecom enterprises carried out the mega project that stretches from France to Singapore.

The latest cable named SEA-ME-WE-4, (South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe), is the fourth is a series of super highway that connects three continents over a distance of almost 20 thousand kilometers with a capacity of 1.28 Terabytes per second.

The 16-companies with which the consortium is formed are-Algerie Telecom, Bharti of India, BTTB of Bangladesh, CAT Telecom of Thailand, Etisalat of UAE, France Telecom, MCI, PTCL of Pakistan, Singapore Telecom, Sri Lanka Telecom, Saudi Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telekom Malaysia, Tunisie Telecom of Tunisia and VSNL.

Source: AMEINFO

SEP 5

Turkish company Hesfible awarded work of fibre optic project

The Cabinet Committee on government purchase at a meeting yesterday has awarded the installation work of the much talked about Chittagong - Cox's Bazar fibre optic link project to a Turkish company named Hesfible at a cost of Tk 28.78 crore.

The 165-kilometre optical fibre cable, after lying, will connect Bangladesh with the Information Super Highway through the SEA-ME-WE 4 Submarine Cable Network from Singapore to Marseilles in France.

Earlier the purchase committee disapproved the proposal to award the contract to Siemens of Germany at a cost of about Tk 49 crore due to irregularities.

Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman who chaired the meeting told newsmen that the Monday’s approval to the Turkish company has saved Tk 22 crore to the government.

'We are already behind the time, we had to do it earlier,' he said replying to a question.

Due to immense irregularities the Cabinet Committee earlier ordered the T&T Board to float a fresh tender in this regard. The board in April last floated fresh tender and opened the seven bids on May 8 this year. The bidders are Alcatel of France, Hesfible of Turkey, Siemens of Germany, Samsung of Korea, and Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation and China National Railway Construction of China.

Among the seven bidders, the ZTE offered Tk 19.1 crore, Chaina National Railway Tk 21.17 crore, Heisfibel Tk 28.78 crore, Huawei Tk 31.63 crore, Samsung Tk 36.89 crore, Alcatel Tk 36.94 crore and Siemens Tk 42 crore.

The technical evaluation committee headed by T&T board chairman Engr Abdul Maleque Akhand dropped two of the Chinese companies the ZTE and the National Railway in the initial stage.

After the installation of fibre optics costing Tk 657 crore, Bangladesh will be connected to the information super highway with a total of 14 countries including India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Under this scheme the company will upgrade the 260 kilometer Chittagong-Dhaka optical fiber link also.

Secretary to the Ministry for Post and Telecommunication Mahmud Hasan Mansur hoped that the installation work would be completed by the next four month.

---

July 23


The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board has selected Hesfibel, a little known Turkish company for laying 165 kilometres of optical fibre cable from Cox’s Bazar to Chittagong.

Hesfibel was established in Kayseri, Turkey in 1990 to produce fibre optic cable.
Sources in the board said the 10-member technical evaluation committee headed by its chairman, Abdul Maleque Akhand, last week completed evaluating the offers of seven companies.

The first tender was cancelled by the cabinet committee on purchase for irregularities.

The purchase committee in March asked the board to float a fresh tender, rejecting the board’s proposal to award the contract to Siemens of Germany although it was the most expensive bidder.

The committee also directed the telecom ministry to act against the officials involved in the tender manipulation.

The board floated the fresh tender in April and opened the seven bids on May 8. The bidders, international telecom equipment manufacturers, include Alcatel of France, Hesfibel of Turkey, Siemens of Germany, Samsung of Korea, and Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation and China National Railway Construction of China.

According to sources, among the bidders, the ZTE offered Tk 19.1 crore, national railway Tk 21.17 crore, Heisfibel Tk 28.78 crore, Huawei Tk 31.63 crore, Samsung Tk 36.89 crore, Alcatel Tk 36.94 crore and Siemens Tk 42 crore.

The evaluation committee dropped two of the Chinese companies — ZTE and the national railway — in its initial screening.

The board recommended Hesfibel to the posts and telecommunications ministry and asked its proposal to be forwarded to the purchase committee for approval.

They said if the purchase committee approves Hesibel, the board will sign a deal with the company and it will be required to complete cable installation within six months of signing the deal.

Sources said it was not possible for Bangladesh to join the submarine cable by the yearend even if the installation of 1,260km Bangladesh segment of SEA-ME-WE4 submarine cable concludes on time by October, unless the fibre optic link between Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong is in place.

JUNE 20

The site has details of how a legitimate international tender was thrown out for no other reason than the prospect of inconceivable enrichment through accepting another backdoor unsolicited proposal from Singtel (a Singapore based Telecommunication company), which has already set foot in Bangladesh acquaring large share of a local cellular company citycell. The catch is that the original tender had an upgradable capacity of 960gbps whereas now BTTB will be having only 10gbps connectivity, which will be exhausted in a couple of years. Now, as Bangladesh is linked with the consortium, the other members of the consortium would also be able to sell their bandwidth in Bangladesh in more competitive rate than BTTB. Singtel has already obtained license for providing Internet through VSAT from Bangladesh and they will only have to invest $15 million to add a backbone in Bangladesh to provide their service. If BTTB wants more bandwith to meet the growing demand, it will have to invest in another connection.

Integrity International reveals that Bangladesh has already lost $250 million in revenue in the two years delay of the project due to retendering. And Bangladesh will loose exponential revenue growth to other companies like Singtel & Bharti Telecom because BTTB was not allowed to safeguard its legitimate interests in the original SEAMEWE-4 negotiations.

This submarine cable has become a curse on Bangladesh after the in mid eighties Ershad military government turned down an offer by another consortium to add Bangladesh with no cost (only they wanted the cable placed through Bangladesh Sea waters). It is said that Ershad was convinced by a report wrote by an arts graduate army major (in charge of communication ministry), which cited that it is a ploy to smuggle all Bangladeshi information through this cable. Some blame the digital divide; I say it is sheer bad luck for Bangladesh that this potential sector forever allured the Bangladeshis.

** I'll keep more up to date information on this. So, if you are interested on this, keep an eye on this Blog!

You can click on the Image below to see the SEAMEWE-4 Cable setup in large size.

Teletalk, CityCell, Aktel interlinked

Teletalk mobile phone users will be able to talk to the AKTEL and CITYCELL users soon, as the state-run company Thursday signed interconnectivity agreement with the two private operators.

The interconnectivity is expected to be activated within a weak, company officials said.

M Obaidullah, Managing Director of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd., said it would take time to install interconnection link through two exchange cables with the private operators.

He hoped similar accords with the two other operators, GrameenPhone and Banglalink, would be signed soon.

The Teletalk MD signed two separate accords with Chris Maloy, Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd., the operator of CITYCELL and Nasir Bin Baharom, Managing Director of TM International (Bangladesh) Ltd., the operator of AKTEL, for the interconnectivity.

Aktel touches 2 million mark

Aktel, one of the largest cellphone companies of the country, has recently reached 2 million subscribers mark, stated the company in an announcement. Aktel has a dynamic and leading end-to- end countrywide GSM (Global system for mobile communication) solutions for the mobile phone users, a venture of Malaysian owned TM International (Bangladesh) limited.

Since the commencement of its operation, Aktel has been a force to be reckoned with in the telecommunication industry of Bangladesh, being one of the fastest growing mobile telecommunication companies offering comprehensive GSM mobile solutions to more than a million subscribers. Today, Aktel boast the widest international roaming service to the people connecting 315 operators across 170 countries of the world.

With a network covering all 61 (allowable) districts of Bangladesh, coupled with the first intelligent network (IN) pre-paid platform in the country, Aktel is geared to provide a wide range of products and services to its customers all over Bangladesh.

Now, Aktel is recognized as one of the leading brand in Bangladesh telecom industry.

Banglalink is now giving SIM by installment

Banglalink, one of the popular cellphone companies of the country is now giving connection by installment, says a newspaper advertisement and thier website recently. This offer is valid for Banglalink's pre-paid connection, such as M2M (Mobile to Mobile), M2M Plus ( BTTB incoming) and standerd. Banglalink's this offer named as 'i' pack'.

i' pack - Easy to buy, easy to pay

Banglalink i' pack offers you the comfort of buying Banglalink Pre-Paid connection by paying connection fees and Government tax over a short period of time in installments. Pay a down payment and pay the rest over 5 to 8 months depending on the type of connection.

Package	Down payment	Monthly installment	Number of installments	Total payment
M2M	Tk.350	Tk.150	5	Tk.1,100
M2M Plus	Tk.350	Tk.150	7	Tk.1,400
Standard	Tk.899	Tk.150	8	Tk.2,099

Terms and conditions

Installment money will be deducted automatically from the customer's account after each 30 days.

* 1st installment will start after 30 days of first call

* Connection will be deactivated in case of shortfall in balance during the installment payment.

* This offer is valid for all Pre-Paid connections.

* No guarantee or post-dated check is required for buying the connection.

* Two color photographs are required for purchasing the connection.

BTRC plans intervention in interconnection row

The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will intervene to solve the interconnectivity dispute between the private sector mobile phone operators and the state-owned Bangladesh Teletalk Limited.

BTRC officials said as the private mobile phone operators and Teletalk are at loggerheads over the interconnection issue, the commission has decided to exercise its regulatory power to ensure interconnectivity for the greater interest of the subscribers.

Interconnection means the connection of two networks, thereby allowing customers of one network to connect with customers of another, or to access services provided by the other network.

According to the BTRC officials, the Interconnection Regulations 2004 of the commission stipulate that the interconnection agreement should be executed within three months from the first day on which the new operator starts providing telecommunication service.

Moreover, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act 2001 says if interested parties, who are bound to execute interconnection agreement, cannot agree on the terms of such an agreement, any of them may approach the commission for judgement.

Moreover, the commission may take up the matter on its own, and determine the terms of the agreements as it considers appropriate.

As the private operators reportedly did not come up with a concrete response to Teletalk’s invitation to sign an interconnection agreement, the latter on April 30 formally urged the BTRC to intervene and settle the issue.

In this context, the commission can intervene in any matter relating to inter- connection of any operator for the purpose of ensuring that the public’s interest is served, said a top official of the commission.

The official also said the commission would call a meeting of all the mobile operators, including the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, next week to settle the dispute.

The commission, however, has held two meetings with the Association of Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, the association of the private sector mobile phone operators, but could not come to a settlement.

Sources in the association said they want to see the terms and condition of interconnection agreement between the telephone board and Teletalk before signing a deal with the latter, which started commercial operation on March 31. Currently Teletalk has 67,000 subscribers.

The four private sector operators also demanded that Teletalk deposit a fixed amount as guarantee money for inter-connectivity in case its operation comes to an abrupt end, as there are several cases against Teletalk with regard to its licensing procedure.

Teletalk starts online form distribution for whole Bangladesh

The authorities of the BTTB mobile phone launched online distribution of forms to provide SIMs to about 100,000+ customers in whole country Tuesday.

According to them, the 10-day online offer would begin at 11:pm and the selection of the customers is likely to be held in the first week of August through computerised lottery.

According to some Teletalk officials, the winners, afterwards, would have to collect the SIMs from the nearest booths of some approved banks.

However, the interconnectivity between BTTB mobile - TeleTalk and other operators is yet to be confirmed, the officials added.

In this regards, the officials hoped that interconnectivity with other private mobile operators would be ensured within a month.

They also said that, the authorities would go for the online system further as it reduces pubic sufferings and mismanagement.

Earlier, in the first phase, 50,000 customers of Dhaka zone were selected through computerised lottery from among some 433,461 applicants on May 22 and the SIMs distribution continued from June 4 to July 7.

Teletalk call charge may be re-fixed

The government will re-fix the call rate of Teletalk mobile phone, if necessary, after analyzing the market situation and other related matters, Parliament was told yesterday.

Replying to Delwar Hossain Sayeedee (BNP-Pirojpur), Post and Telecommunication Minister Barrister M Aminul Haque said the call rate of Teletalk was still much lower than the private mobile phone operators. “Besides, Teletalk also offer different facilities,” he said.

The minister informed the House that no agreement between the Teletalk and other mobile phone operators has yet been signed.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) held two meetings with the other mobile phone operators and formulated significant guidelines for signing inter- connection agreement, he said.

The four private mobile phone operators did not send back the approved draft of the agreement to the Teletalk for signing the agreement, he added.

The Telecommunications Minister told Tajul Islam and Mashiur Rahman Ranga (Jatiya Party) that the matter of incoming call charge and high call charge by private mobile phone operators, including GrameenPhone, is now with the BTRC. “I think, the BTRC will take necessary action to reduce the call rate (of private mobile operators) as early as possible,” he said.

Aminul Haque expressed his optimism that the network of Teletalk could be expanded all over the country by the year 2007.

Replying to a supplementary of Moazzem Hossain Alal (BNP), he said the government would take immediate steps to stop the international call diversion system by a vested quarter of telephone operators.

“A vested quarter is involved with the international call diversion crime. The Cabinet has already taken various measures and the BTTB along with BTRC is working in this regard. I hope, the crime can be curbed within a very short time,” he said.

Responding to another supplementary of M Ali Sarker (Jatiya Party), the minister said 180 upazilas have so far been brought under digital connection and Internet facilities. The remaining upazilas will be brought under digital connection and Internet network by the end of the current fiscal year.

He told Dr Syed Makbul Hossain (Sylhet-6) that there is no money order service between UK and Bangladesh.

The government has a plan to launch money transfer service for the welfare of the expatriate Bangladeshis in UK, he said adding that the government has already initiated a plan to introduce electronic international money transfer service.

“Talks are on with a foreign company, Western Union, in this regard and I hope, we’ll be able to make a deal with the company very soon,” the minister said.

Aktel offers season's coolest deals

Country's one of the leading cellphone operators, Aktel, has come up with lots of new offers for its subscribers. This offers meant to be the season's coolest deals for both the post-paid and pre-paid subscribers, sicne both segment will enjoy lots of advantages from it.

The post-paid subscribers are getting 1 sec pulse from 1st min, BTTB incoming free for the 1st min and can call any 3 FnF (Friends and Family ) numbers at an exciting rate of Tk 1.50 per minute. Also they can talk to any Aktel number at special rates, from 12 midnight till 8 am in the morning. There is no extra charges for roaming and inter- zonal calls. Line rent has also been reduced for the subscribers. They can get discount even from the regular line rent. It depends on how much airtime a subscriber is using. Moreover they will enjoy facilities of paying the bill through e-fill and scratch- cards, knowing bill information through SMS and experience the facility of GPRS free of cost till 18th August 2005.

Package< /td>	Connection Price* (Tk)	Credit limit (Tk)
Standard Local+NWD+IDD	4,000	2,500
Standard Local+NWD	3,000	2,500
Mobile Link (Mobile To Mobile)	2,000	1,500

Package< /td>	Connection Price* (Tk)	Credit limit (Tk)
Standard Local+NWD+IDD	4,000	2,500
Standard Local+NWD	3,000	2,500
Mobile Link (Mobile To Mobile)	2,000	1,500

No security deposit is required for the post paid subscribers.

Pre-Paid subscribers are getting 10 sec pulse from the very 1st min, BTTB incoming free for the 1st min, can call any 3 FnF numbers at a fixed rate of Tk. 1.50 per minute, can talk to any Aktel number at a special rate, 50% reduced call rate from 12 midnight till 8 am in the morning and also getting special bonus of Tk. 250 in every three months based on usage of voice calls.

Package< /td>	Connection Price* (Tk.)
Standard Local+NWD+IDD	1,900
Mobile Link Mobile To Mobile	1,200

Tk 100 talk time free

VAT and other charges plus terms and conditions are included.