Saturday, October 29, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Telecom interconnection work to begin next year

The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) will start the development of interconnection facilities between the different telecom operators from early next year with the financial assistance of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation.

Sources in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications said that the Economic Relations Division, in a wrap- up meeting on October 3, signed the minutes of discussion with the JBIC mission to develop interconnection facilities in Dhaka, Chittagong and some other cities including Comilla, Kushtia, Mymensingh, Barisal, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Bogra.

The project, whose title has been changed to 'Telecommunications Network Development Project' from the earlier one of 'Development of Interconnection Facilities between Different Telecom Operators in Bangladesh', will be implemented between February 2006 and September 2009 at a cost of Tk 634 crore.

The JBIC will provide around Tk 447 crore while the Bangladesh government will provide the rest of the amount, Tk 187 crore, for the project. A total of 25 consultants, including eight foreign ones, will be appointed for the project at the cost of Tk 39 crore.

According to the minutes of the discussion, a project monitoring unit will be created to implement the project and a general manager of BTTB will be appointed as the project director, and about 69 staffers of BTTB will be absorbed in the project.

The agreed upon minutes of discussion said that the procurement of goods would be conducted in line with the JBIC guideline and Public Procurement Regulations 2003 of Bangladesh.

However, the minutes said that there could be a separate agreement on eligible source countries for procurement if a conflict arises between the JBIC guideline and PPR-03, and in this case approval will be taken from the concerned authorities before signing the procurement agreement.

'The BTTB can sign the agreement under the Company Act if the board turns into a corporate entity by that time,' said the minutes.

However, the JBIC said that telecom ministry must send the legal documents for corporatisation of the telephone board to the Cabinet Division by October, and also wanted a bill in this regard placed in the first session of parliament in 2006 to get the assistance.

The BTTB had submitted the proposal to the JBIC in 2003 through the ERD for funding of the interconnection project.

The Dhaka office of the JBIC conducted a feasibility study to assess the need for interconnection between the operators, said BTTB officials.

The bank, however, imposed certain conditions, including restructuring of the BTTB for financing the project, said officials at the post and telecommunications ministry.

'As the government has already started the restructuring process, the JBIC has now agreed to finance the project,' said a telecom ministry official.

Around 90 per cent of about 70 lakh mobile phone users do not have BTTB interconnectivity. Besides, four private-sector public- switched telecom networks have already started operations and 10-12 others are set to launch their services by the year’s end or early next year, said sources.

BTTB officials said that lack of interconnection is hindering the growth of the telecom sector, and if implemented, the telecommunications network development project will help to solve the problem.

Friday, October 28, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Poor network keeps Teletalk subscribers in spin

Most of the 1.75 lakh subscribers of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited fail to make or receive calls because of is poor network and coverage, and interconnection problem with four other mobile operators.

Subscribers of the state-owned mobile operator complained in most cases, they failed to make or receive calls as the network always remains busy because of its poor infrastructure.

They said the subscribers needed to make several attempts to get through and calls drop very often.

Teletalk subscribers are often greeted with a message — You have dialled a wrong number — when they try to make calls to another Teletalk number. ‘This is simply a farce with subscribers,’ said Biplab, an aggrieved subscriber.

'We have faced baton charge and long queues in front of the banks to get the Teletalk SIMs, hopeful of a good service at an affordable price. But the hope fades away,' said another subscriber, Abdullah, who recently switched back to his previous operator. 'It is a waste of government money.'

The Teletalk officials attributed the poor network situation to a hurried launch of the mobile service.

'We were ill prepared during the launch and the subscribers are now paying the price,' said a general manager of Teletalk. Teletalk began its commercial operation on March 31.

'We launched the service with an infrastructure which was only 20 per cent complete. We have completed the infrastructure by 50 per cent by now,' he said. 'You cannot expect a 100 per cent service from a 50 percent infrastructure.'

The officials said that the problem would somewhat be solved by December as they hoped to install some new base transceiver stations by the time.

They said most customers had been facing problems as Teletalk has yet to install all the base transceiver stations across the country.

The transceiver stations are land-based stations in a mobile wireless network that consist of an antenna and radio equipment that is necessary to provide wireless service in an area.

'We have installed only 270 base transceiver stations, 70 of them in Dhaka,' said a senior Teletalk official. But many of those installed stations are yet to be functional for lack of power connection. 'This is why the call congestion is obvious.'

The operator has planned to set up about 570 stations across the country. One hundred and forty of them will be installed in Dhaka.

Charge-free incoming calls to Teletalk from landline have also aggravated the problem further as many Teletalk subscribers receiving landline calls talk for hours, keeping the network busy.

Regarding interconnection,
The official said Teletalk was facing interconnection problems with GrameenPhone, the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh. 'The interconnection problem with GrameenPhone will soon be solved.' But interconnection with Aktel and Banglalink is not good either.

Teletalk will provide around 2.5 lakh connections in the first phase.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Bangla SMS - New software for SMS in Bangla

Mobile phone users, from now on, will be able to write texts of short message service (SMS) in Bangla, if cellphone operators introduce the designated software, which is suitable for the purpose of writing and reading Bangla script.

Two Bangladeshi students of computer science and engineering have recently developed such software to enable Bangla-speaking people to exchange SMS in Bangla in a faster manner and without much hassles of writing joint alphabets.

The software is an ‘intelligent Bangla text input system’ named b786 which has contained the facility of writing Bangla words by using both traditional and exclusive keypads.

The exclusive Bangla mobile keypad has been designed in compatible with the relevant software.

For writing a word by exclusive keypad, a user has to push cell phone button 4.014 times on an average, which is 2.57 times faster than other traditional key pads, according to the method developed by Kamrul Hasan and Ahsan Morshed, students of the 8th semester of International Islamic University, Chittagong.

The b786 software combines the groups of letters found on each key with faster access to the words and recognises what a user wants to type. The Bangla mobile keypad, providing auto correction system, is expected to replace the current method of writing distorted Bangla words with English alphabets.

‘Our aim was to make something that can facilitate expressing one’s feelings in Bangla in SMS. Our method offers extra comforts to those whose mother tongue is Bangla and to those who are learners,’ the duo said while introducing the new software.

They also expressed willingness to market this software through the mobile phone operating companies, mainly targeting Bangla- speaking people in Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal.

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Siemens brings GPRS solution for BTTB

Siemens Bangladesh has implemented GPRS solution for BTTB GSM mobile project recently.

A future proof product in GSM family, the solution would provide features like photo talk, animated instant voice messaging, person-to-person gaming, audio-video streaming, video download and Internet access, video calls, and music to you, said a press release.

The integration of the most advanced technology also made it possible to adopt the assisted-global positioning system in the solution. A GPRS offers location based features, like tracking the nearest restaurant or petrol pump. The system might also be used for person or vehicle tracking.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

CityCell holds road show for Aalap Super

CityCell, country's only CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile phone operator organised a road show promoting its recent Aalap Super package offer.

The offer includes a pre-paid mobile-to-mobile package in the country featuring absolutely free of cost CityCell to CityCell calls during super off-peak hours.

With the lowest tariff rate, a subscriber has to pay only Tk 2 per pulse for the calls to the other existing cellular phones from 8 am to 11 pm. After 11 pm, it only becomes Tk 1 per pulse. For CityCell to CityCell calls from 8 am to 11 pm, the rate is only Tk 1.5 per pulse. CityCell offers call to any similar number absolutely free of charge from 11 pm to 8 am till next March 31 in the super off-peak hours. After expiry of the stipulated time, this super off-peak rate will be only Tk 1 per pulse.

Apart from all these offers, a CityCell subscriber can also choose 3 One2One numbers to call at the half of the applicable tariff rates at any time.

Monday, October 17, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

AKTel slashes pre-paid call charge

AKTel, the second largest mobile operator in the country, has refixed its call charges and reduced its tariff for pre-paid services to 0: 33 paisa per 10 seconds pulse.

According to newspaper advertisement, the current AKTel call charges are as follows: From AKTel to any AKTel number Tk 4.30/minute during pick hour (8am- 8pm), Tk. 4 during off pick hour (8 pm- 12 pm ) and Tk. 2 for Night bird talk plan (12 am- 8 am).

But call from AKTel to others operators will cost Tk 4.90/ per minute during pick hour and off pick hour while Night bird is Tk 2.50/ per minute. For outgoing calls to BTTB, pick and off pick hour tarrif will be the same Tk 4.90 plus BTTB charges.

The incoming calls are free from all the mobile operators as usually. But in case of incoming calls from BTTB, the first minute will be free and charges from the second minute and onward during pick and off pick hour has been fixed Tk 1.50, Tk 1.50 and for Night bird Tk 1 per minute.

For BTTB calls, BTTB time bond will be applicable. More over subscribers can talk to 3 AKTel friends and family skim numbers round the clock at a flat rate of Tk 2 per minute. SMS charges for AKTel to AKTel numbers has been fixed Tk 1.50 and from AKTel to other mobile operators Tk. 2 without VAT. VAT will be applicable to all charges.

GP starts its Eid sales campaign

Country's cellphone giant GrameenPhone (GP) has launched an attractive Eid sales campaign for its all products. GP says this is the most attractive offer in the market for its all products to attract more subscribers.

After the recent major tariff reductions by GrameenPhone, which has created a huge impact in the market, Eid sales campaign is yet another bold initiative by the company to maintain its market leadership, says GP authority.

Following is the new package price for all products for the Eid-ul-Fitr campaign (effective from 15th October '05 till Eid day) :

Easy pre-paid : Tk. 600, EASY Gold : Tk. 1,600, Djuice : 450, GP National : 2,125, GP Regular : 4,495, Anytime 300 : 3275, Anytime 500 : 3850, Anytime 1600 : 19,600. All package prices are for SIM only.

Easy and Easy Gold connections will include Tk. 100, pre-charged balance with 31 days validity and djuice connection will include Tk. 50 pre-charged balance with 15 days validity and Tk. 50 worth of free djuice to djuice and djuice to GP SMS.

Along with the above mentioned prices, GP also introduces the following promotions for djuice.

* During peak hours (6 am to 10 pm) - djuice to djuice calls and U&I calls will be charged at a reduced rate of Tk. 2.4 /minute.

* During off-peak hours (10 pm to 6 am - extended off- peak hours promotion will run till 10th November '05) - djuice to djuice calls will be charged at Tk. 1.98 /minute for the first minute and Tk. 0 for subsequent minutes.

The djuice promotions will continue till Eid-ul-Azha (January 2006) and the package prices will remain same.

Sunday, October 16, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Banglalink 'Eid mobile Mela' begins at Bashundhara City

A five-day Banglalink cellphone fair named 'Banglalink Eid mobile Mela' began at Bashundhara City shopping mall in Dhaka on Saturday. The fair received huge response on the first two days.

People, especially youths, were seen waiting in queues at level Seven of the shopping mall on the opening day.

Organised by country's emerging cellphone operator Banglalink, total eight dealers of the company are participating in the fair, which is open to all from 10am to 10pm.

"Banglalink itself does not offer any special package in the fair. It is a fair of our dealers who are offering different packages," said an official of Banglalink.

The fair will continue till 22 october.

Friday, October 14, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

Process to make BTTB public limited co almost final

All the preparations to turn the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) into a public limited company have been completed and a draft memorandum of articles is likely to be placed before the cabinet in the current month.

The officials of the ministry concerned and the telephone board said this at a parliamentary standing committee meeting on the ministry of telecommunications on Wednesday.

The officials told the committee that all the preparations in this regard were almost complete and the authorities had prepared the rough draft of the memorandum to be placed before the cabinet later this month, said meeting sources.

The committee members earlier charged the ministry for its failure in completing the procedure even 10 months after the government had made the decision on turning the board into a public limited company in January.

The committee members also asked the ministry to complete the process within the shortest possible time, said the sources.

The committee discussed the ongoing movement of the employees' union protesting against the government decision and assured that no employee would be fired after the telephone board is made a public limited company.

The committee members said all the activities of the telephone board would continue as usual and the promotion procedure of the employees would also remain unchanged.

Presided at by the committee chairman, GM Fazlul Haque, members Kazi Golam Morshed, Abul Hossain Khan, Ali Kader, Farid Uddin Chowdhury and Abdul Hai were present.

Teletalk introduces SMS facility

Teletalk Bangladesh Limited introduced its short message service programme from Wednesday for its subscribers.

With the system, mobile subscribers of AKTel, CityCell, Banglalink and Teletalk could communicate among themselves through sending and receiving messages.

Teletalk authorities said after completion of the technical setup for the SMS, they ensured the service.

A Teletalk subscriber would pay Tk 1 per SMS to other operator’s subscriber, sources said adding that subscribers of the three operators would also avail the opportunity.

They said all 1.71 lakh subscribers of Teletalk would also enjoy SMS facility with the GrameenPhone soon.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

GrameenPhone cuts tariff up to 60 percent

GrameenPhone, The largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, reduced its call charge ranging between 20 and 60 per cent effective from Thursday(06/10).
GrameenPhone managing director Erik Aas at a briefing on Tuesday announced the tariff reduction on GP all services.
The highest prepaid tariff has been reduced from Tk 6 a minute to Tk 4.4 for calls within GP numbers, and to Tk 4.8 a minute for calls outside the operator.
A number of features such as My Time, My Easy and My Choice remain with the lower tariffs.
'There is no GP tariff at Tk 6 a minute any more. The highest tariff is now Tk 4.8,' said Aas at the briefing at the Sonargaon Hotel.
'With the new tariffs coupled with wide, quality network and good after-sales services, GrameenPhone has once again reinforced its market leadership,' he said.
The tariff for Djuice, especially designed for the young people, has also been reduced to a flat rate of Tk 4.65 a minute for calls to any mobile numbers.
Djuice subscribers will also enjoy the U&I feature, with Tk 1 per pulse, and the current promotion of extended off-peak hour between 10:00pm and 6:00am at a reduced rate of Tk 0.66 per pulse.
In the post-paid segment, there will be no charge on calls coming from landline for the first five minutes; such calls will be charge Tk 1 for subsequent minutes.
The GP National tariff for calls to any other mobile numbers has been reduced to Tk 4 during peak and Tk 3 during off-peak hours.
GP Regular and National subscribers will pay Tk 1 per pulse during super off-peak hours between 11:00pm and 8:00am for calls to any other mobile numbers, amounting to a reduction of up to 60 per cent on the tariff.
GrameenPhone has also reduced its bundled product tariffs to a flat Tk 3 a minute for Any Time 500 and Tk 2.5 a minute for Any Time 1600 for calls to any other mobile numbers.
The charge for SMS, or text, both in prepaid and post-paid segments, has been reduced to Tk 1.5.
Post-paid GP Regular and GP National subscribers will be able to send SMS to Friends and Family numbers for Tk 1.
Aas said GrameenPhone would earn Tk 70 crore less per month from its existing revenue because of the reduction on tariff.
He said the operator would cover around 85 per cent of the population area by year-end. GrameenPhone now has more than 40 lakh subscribers.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

AKTel's new offer 'Activate and Gain'

Country's second largest cellphone operator AKTel is giving a new offer for it's pre-paid subcriber's named 'Activate and Gain'. With this offer if you activate any new AKTel Pre- Paid connection within November 6, you will gain Tk.500 talktime for free, says a newspaper advertisement recently.

This offer will be valid for all new pre-paid customers who will activate their connection from October 4th till November 6th, 2005. After activating the new pre- paid connection, customers will get the free talktime amount automatically in their accounts.

The advertisement also says that if there is any pre- loaded talktime with subscribers account, that will also remain valid and will be addded additionally. This talktime will be remain valid for 30 days or pre- loaded validity, whichever is longer. Other conditions will be apply for this offer.

Sunday, October 02, 2005 - Bangladesh Telecom

CityCell rolls out low cost package

CityCell, the CDMA Mobile operator of the country introduced a new prepaid mobile-only package, Alap Super, to go on sale today.

The operator at a briefing on Saturday announced the package, the first after the Singapore Telecommunications Limited had bought 45 per cent of the shares of CityCell in June.

CityCell senior vice- president of marketing Intekhab Mahmud said the start-up cost of the package would be the lowest among the ones offered by other operators.

The lowest start-up package is priced at Tk 2,499, with a Huawei C218 handset.

The next category includes a UTStarcom C1160 handset selling for Tk 3,499 and the other selling for Tk 4,499 with a Nokia 2112 handset.

The main feature of the package is free outgoing calls — subscribers will be able to make calls to any CityCell numbers free during super off-peak hours, between 11:00pm and 8:00am, till March 31.

Alap Super subscribers can talk to any CityCell numbers for Tk 1.5 a 30-second pulse, and to numbers of other operators for Tk 2 a 30- second pulse during peak hours and for Tk 1 during super off-peak hours.

New connections will have a talk time of Tk 50 preloaded, valid for a week, and 300 free SMS to any mobile numbers, said Farhad Alam of CityCell.

Subscribers will also enjoy a 50 per cent reduced tariff to three CityCell numbers of their choice. CityCell will provide a one-year warranty period on the RIM-based handsets.

Intekhab said the operator had planned to invest around $125 million in network expansion to reach a subscriber’s base of about 3.5 million by the end of 2006.

The operator now has around 3.5 lakh subscribers and enjoys 6 per cent of the mobile market share.