GP launches voice message service

From now all GrameenPhone subscribers will be able to send voice messages from now on. This is part of Grameen’s effort to provide better communication services, said a press release by the country's leading cellphone operator.

The press release claimed that the new service will ease subscribers' ways of communication at a lower cost. Grameen subscribers will be able to record their messages and thus be able to say what they want in any language, says the release.

It also pointed out that a voice message would not require reading or writing.

The release explains the procedure to send voice messages, 'One only has to press * followed by the receiver’s number to send a Voice SMS of 30 second duration.'

Each voice message will cost Tk 2.5. 'Receivers can listen to new Voice Messages free of cost by simply dialing *0*.'

Goverment seeks $25m loan from S Korea for internet project

The government is set to seek around $25 million soft loan to South Korea to improve its internet infrastructure with a view to providing high speed internet service across the country.

Sources in the ministry of posts and telecommunications said that they had sent a proposal to the economic relations division under the finance ministry to scrutinise the deal with the Korean government.

The government has taken up Tk 220 crore project titled 'Infobhahon' as an extension of the ongoing internet project, aiming to improve the service.

Earlier, the Korean government expressed interest in providing soft loan on the BTTB internet infrastructure project, said officials of the telecom ministry.

Ministry sources said that the ERD would send a team soon to South Korea to finalise terms and conditions of the loan agreement.

'The local internet service providers will also be benefited once the project is implemented,' said an official of the telephone board.

'If the project is implemented, the internet users will able to swap data at a faster rate,' said the official.

The BTTB first introduced internet in Bangladesh in 1997 and currently covers all the 64 districts and two-thirds of upazilas in the country.

According to the industry sources, there are around 10 lakh internet subscribers in Bangladesh provided by around 50 internet service providers and the telephone board.

GrameenPhone launches EDGE data service commercially

Country's leading Cellphone operator GrameenPhone on Monday commercially launched EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) technology, a high-speed mobile internet and data service.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman, Omar Faruq, launched the service in a programme at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

The data service will enable GP subscribers to enjoy services such as downloading video and music clips, sending and receiving multimedia messages, accessing the internet and sending and receiving e-mail.

GrameenPhone subscribers living in and around Dhaka and Chittagong metropolises will initially be able to use EDGE by using a GPRS, EDGE or MMS-enabled handsets.

GrameenPhone managing director Erik Aas said the launch of EDGE is something special for GP subscribers and GrameenPhone has been constantly working towards increasing quality and coverage.

He said there were two main reasons which keep the high growth of the GrameenPhone, which now has about 40 lakh subscribers.

'We reach more or less everywhere and the high quality, and capacity of network are the main reasons for such a high growth,' said Aas.

He said the technology needs high-quality network as it is eight times faster than the ordinary GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technology.

He said GrameenPhone now covers 70 per cent of the population area and is expected to reach 85 per cent by year-end.

GramneePhone marketing director Kafil HS Muyeed said two types of packages are available to EDGE subscribers.

The first package is pay-as- you-go, which would be available for prepaid and postpaid subscribers without any monthly fees.

There will be a charge on browsing and downloading; and in the case of content download, charge will include the price of the contents and the price of download. Browsing charge will be Tk 0.02 per kilobyte in the first package.

The second package, only for post-paid subscribers, will have a monthly fee of Tk 1,000 for unlimited browsing. The subscribers will only need to pay the price of the content.

EDGE service will remain free till November; the charges will be applicable after the time.

Omar Faruq said mobile phone replaces the landline. He urged the mobile operators to improve the network and call quality.

BTRC appoints PwC to conduct study on mobile phone tariff

The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a United States-based multinational consultants firm to conduct a study on determining the actual call cost of the mobile phone operators in the country.

'The study will determine the actual call cost of a mobile phone operator to enable the commission regulate call rates as well as help formulate a tariff guideline for the mobile operators,' said an official of the telecom regulatory commission.

Commission officials said that the consultants firm will begin its work at the end of the current month and complete the study by ten months at a fee of $1.5 lakh.

According to the official, the study, financed by the World Bank, would suggest an 'allowable level of profit' on top of the break- even plateau.

'Once the study is done, the commission will be able put its fingers on the precise operating cost of each call and hence determine the reasonable tariff,' said an official of the commission.

The official said that the commission had been working on tariff reforms in the interest of the consumers as there 'is allegation that mobile operators have been charging much higher rate compared to other regional markets, including India and Pakistan'.

The commission officials, however, said that the commission believed in an open-market philosophy and encouraged competition so that the rates were both business- and consumer- friendly.

'The market will determine the call charge,' said a top commission official. According to the private mobile phone operators, intense competition has already brought down the call charge to around 35 per cent over the years.

Currently, there are over 60 lakh mobile subscriptions, provided by five operators, namely, GrameenPhone, Aktel, CityCell, Banglalink and the state owned operator Teletalk.

Bangladesh International Telecom Fair to begin Sept 22

The Bangladesh International Telecom Fair, slated to run during September 22–24, will showcase the latest telecom services and products.

The organisers at a briefing in Dhaka on Saturday said 70 companies would joint the fair to be held at the Bangladesh-China conference centre.

Mobile phone operators AkTel, Banglalink, CityCell, and state owned TeleTalk, PSTN operators, dealers and importers of handsets and accessories and PABX service providers will join the fair.

‘The fair will facilitate direct interaction between telecom companies and users,’ said Nurul Karim Nasim, executive editor of the weekly Financial Mirror, an organiser of the fair.

The fair will provide the companies with opportunities for telecom market research and will create a healthy competition, he said.

Nazrul Islam, managing director of the Jamuna Bank, a sponsor of the fair, said teledensity in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the region, with only 10 per cent. The density in Sri Lanka is 37 per cent, in India 23 per cent, and in Pakistan 27 per cent.

AkTel corporate affairs manager Mashuk Rahman said teledensity and GDP of a country related. ‘The fair will be a meet to see what we are doing, how we are doing and what are our future plans.’

A large number of mobile handset dealers will join the fair to reach out to prospective customers, said Anwar Hossain of the Mobile Phone Importers Association.

On behalf of the organiser The Financial Mirror managing editor, Shajahan Bhuyian Razu, said entry fee would be Tk 10. A part of the proceeds will go to a charity organisation.

Sorce: BD-News