Bangladesh Telecom

Submarine cable will save Bangladesh over $13 mn

2006-05-30T07:05:00.000+06:00

Bangladesh's Internet service providers (ISPs) will be able to save about Taka 800 million ($13 million) per annum through a submarine cable that connects the country with the super information highway.

The bandwidth of the submarine cable would save foreign exchange and add revenue to the government exchequer, sources in the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) told BDNews news agency.

Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) has already received Taka 65 million ($1 million) from 11 ISPs by selling submarine cable bandwidth.

Internet users in Dhaka have started enjoying the benefit of the submarine cable with 2 megabytes per second (mbps). The service providers earlier had to pay about $3,000 for 1 mbps per month while the charge is now about $1,000.

According to the ISPAB, about a half a million Internet customers in the country use 400 to 500 mbps. The number of users as well as bandwidth use is expected to rise radically with the arrival of the submarine cable, Bangladesh Observer newspaper said.

Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of ISPAB, however, said the ISPs could offer upgraded service quality of Internet for users, not a reduction in cost.

'And it is the customers' choice what they want - quality service or cost reduction, and we intend to offer the first one to our valued customers,' he added.

BTRC proposes new call termination rate for BTTB - mobile revenue sharing

2006-05-26T13:06:00.000+06:00

The Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission has proposed a new termination rate for a revised revenue sharing agreement between the state-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board and private mobile phone operators.

The commission proposed the new rate in May after a series of meetings in April with the telephone board and the mobile phone operators, BTRC officials said. If both sides agree, the new rate will be implemented in phases.

According to the proposal, the mobile phone operators will pay the telephone board at a rate of Tk 0.70 per minute whenever a call is made from their networks to the BTTB network.
The telephone board will pay at a rate of Tk 0.30 per minute between May and July, Tk 0.40 between August and December, Tk 0.50 in 2007, Tk 0.60 in 2008, and Tk 0.70 in 2009 for calls from the BTTB network terminating in the networks of the mobile phone operators.

"The revenue sharing between the BTTB and the operators will be on an equal footing in 2009," a top official of the commission said on Wednesday.

The commission has also proposed that the telephone board should pay mobile phone operators at a rate of Tk 2 per minute for international calls from and Tk 1 for international calls to the mobile networks.

In March, the telephone board sent separate proposals to the four operators to sign a revised revenue sharing agreement. The operators rejected the proposals as discriminatory and sought the regulatory commission’s intervention.
The regulatory commission took the issue for an amicable solution and proposed this new rate, said a senior official of the commission.

The board had proposed that it would pay Tk 0.30 per minute to the mobile operators when it terminates its calls on their network but would charge Tk 0.70 for terminating calls from the mobile network on its network.

On April 19, it implemented a Tk 1.5 per minute call charge for calls to any mobile phones without signing a revised revenue sharing agreement with the mobile operators, although it said paying interconnection charges to the mobile operators was the reason for switching to a per-minute rate instead of the 5-minute peak and 8-to-10-minute off-peak chunks for Tk 1.5.

However, due to the absence of a new revenue sharing agreement, the board’s subscribers have been paying 400 hundred per cent more, compared to earlier charges, when calling mobile phones and the mobile operators have also been taking incoming charges from their customers when they receive calls from the BTTB network.

Under the existing agreement, signed in 1998, the mobile operators pay interconnection fees when accessing the BTTB network whereas the telephone board pays nothing when terminating its traffic to the mobile operators’ network.
The board, however, has a revenue sharing agreement with the state-run mobile phone operator Teletalk Bangladesh.

The mobile operators have repeatedly said they will not charge for incoming calls from BTTB phones once the new revenue sharing agreement comes into effect.

The mobile operators say they have signed interconnection agreements among them and with private land phone operators.
The agreements are symmetrical where they charge Tk 0.90 per minute for peak hours and Tk 0.50 for off peak hours.

Cost of internet use set to go down

2006-05-25T01:11:00.000+06:00

BTTB announces tariff rate for submarine cable, satellite, internet services; ISPs hail the move.

Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) yesterday offered an interesting tariff rate for the newly launched submarine cable, satellite and internet services, which will help the internet service providers (ISPs) to slash internet use costs significantly.

The latest BTTB tariff rate is one fourth of that the ISPs now pay to foreign internet exchange providers. But despite such a cost relief, the ISPs will not be able to reduce more than 10 percent of the charges for internet users. This is because the ISPs will continue to maintain the services of foreign internet exchange providers for the next few months, according to the ISPs.

"The customers will enjoy the full benefit of the submarine cable within 3-4 months. The cost of internet use will then go down at least by 50 percent," said Ershad Shafi Chowdhury, secretary general of the Bangladesh ISP Association.

"The BTTB does not have a backup system to complement the submarine cable. That is why the ISPs will have to continue to depend on foreign internet services," he said. "But the BTTB has taken up an initiative to install a backup Vsat (Very small aperture satellite) and, hopefully, this will start operating within 3-4 months."

The country has about 5 lakh internet users at present. With the arrival of the submarine cable, this number is expected to shoot up dramatically. "We really can not predict how fast the consumer base will grow. But this is going to grow in significant pace," observed Ershad.

Meanwhile, many ISPs in Dhaka have already started using the submarine cable even though an appropriate cable infrastructure is yet in place. They are providing speed up to 2 megabyte per second (MBps).

The ISPs are expecting the BTTB to reduce its tariff structure further, said Ershad. "The BTTB has just launched the operation of submarine cable and it is still not sure about the market response. We believe the market response will be great, which will encourage the BTTB to lower the tariff rate further."

The BTTB tariff rate for internet connection below 2 MBps through the SMW4 submarine cable is as follows: registration fee- Tk 20,000, installation and testing fee- Tk 75,000, modem charge for 128 Kbps- Tk 84,000 (lifetime & optional) and yearly rental charge Tk 21,000 (if modem provided by the BTTB). For 192 KBps to 1 MBps the lifetime charge is Tk 126,000 and annual rental fee Tk 31,500, and above 1 MBps lifetime charge is Tk 231,000 with annual rental fee of Tk 57,750.

Call centres and software exporters can rent half circuit 64 Kbps facility for Tk 151,200 and full circuit for Tk 272,160 for a year. General users may avail the same for Tk 201,600 and Tk 362,880 respectively.

The tariff rate for ISPs through satellite for 64 Kbps half circuit is: registration fee- Tk 20,000, installation and testing- Tk 120,000, for 64 Kbps & 128 Kbps the lifetime modem charge (optional) Tk 84,000 and Tk 21,000 rental (if modem provided by BTTB). For 192 Kbps to 1 Mbps, the lifetime modem charge is Tk 126,000 plus an annual rental of Tk 31,500. For speed above 1 Mbps, the lifetime modem charge is Tk 231,000 plus an annual rental of Tk 57,750.

The BTTB circular said that the customers are barred from sharing or further leasing out of bandwidth. The Internet Private Leaseline Circuit (IPLC) is disallowed to terminate calls. Besides it added some terms and conditions on the use of voice-based application.

"If any illegal transmission of voice is detected in IPLC, a penalty of Tk 350,000 will be added to 64 Kbps half circuit annual charge... if the customer is a licensed operator, in addition to this penalty, respective clauses of Telecom Laws will also be applicable," the circular stated.

The 10-page circular also laid out cost structure for leased line, long-term connection, and different types of clients.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia inaugurated the cable in Cox's Bazar on May 21, 2006

Teletalk expects 4 lac new SIM cards by November

2006-05-21T12:02:00.000+06:00

Bangladeshi state-owned mobile phone company Teletalk said it would release 400,000 new SIM cards by November 2006. The company has already sold 264,000 cards so far. Teletalk sources said the operator would release a package named 'Rural Package' by June to make mobile phones available and affordable to use by rural people of Khulna, Rajshahi and Chittagong. The programme allows rural customers to pay 900 taka for a SIM card and 300 taka for a card in addition to the SIM. Teletalk's Rural Package is aimed at low-income people across the country, excepting those in the country's capital, Dhaka.

Submarine cable opens today - Bangladesh to join global information superhighway

2006-05-21T01:06:00.000+06:00

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.

BTTB to cut internet charges thanks to submarine cable link

2006-05-19T02:41:00.000+06:00

State-owned Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) plans to slash internet usage charges by 62 percent after the country is improves its international connections with a new undersea cable, officials said. Charges for all types of internet connections will be reduced. Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is going to formally inagurate the SEA-ME-WE-4 undersea cable on 21st May.

BTTB to implement new rate without agreement with mobile operators

2006-04-18T01:31:00.000+06:00

Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board is going to implement the Tk 1.5 per minute call charge from April 19 for calls to any mobile phones without signing a revised revenue sharing agreement with the mobile operators.

The telephone board when submitting its proposal to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission on January 30 cited that the board would shortly sign a new minute-based revenue sharing agreement with the mobile operators, under which, the board has to pay interconnection charge to operators for sending calls in their networks.

The board has to subsidise its outgoing calls to mobile phones, if the new rate does not come into effect, said the proposal.
That was the major reason for increasing the call charges to mobile phones according to the board.

The regulatory commission on Thursday night approved the proposal to charge per minute instead of the present 5-minute peak and 8-to-10-minute off-peak chunks for Tk 1.5.

Sources in the telephone board said as there is no new revenue sharing agreement between telephone board and the private mobile operators till date, the board’s decision to implement the new rate from Wednesday would be tantamount to cheating its 11 lakh subscribers who would have to pay 400 per cent more than the current charge.

'The telephone board is simply cheating its customers by charging for a service which has not yet to come into effect,' said a top official of the state owned telephone board.

Earlier in March, the telephone board sent separate proposals to four private mobile phone operators to sign the revised revenue sharing agreement but they refused to do so due to discrimination in the termination charge.

In the proposal, the board said it would pay Tk 0.30 per minute to the mobile operators while terminating its calls in their network.
On the other hand the telephone board would charge Tk 0.70 for terminating mobile operator’s calls in its network.

But the operators rejected the board’s proposal terming it discriminatory and later requested the regulatory commission’s intervention.

'The termination charge is discriminatory and unacceptable,' said a top official of a leading operator.

He said all the operators signed interconnection agreements among them and with private land phone operators. These agreements, he said were symmetrical and the private operators charge Tk 0.90 per minute for peak hours and Tk 0.50 for off peak hours as interconnection charge.

On the other hand, the telephone board refused the operators’ demand to share 15 per cent of its revenue generated from international calls. Under the existing agreement signed in 1998, private mobile operators pay interconnection fees while accessing the BTTB network whereas the telephone board pays nothing while terminating its traffic to the mobile operator’s network. The state-owned land phone operator however, has a revenue sharing agreement with the state-run mobile phone operator Teletalk Bangladesh.

Tk 7.5 per min calls to 15 more countries

2006-03-30T01:36:00.000+06:00

The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board will introduce its flat international call rate of Tk 7.5 per minute to 15 more countries from April 1.

Earlier on December 2003, the board first introduced the flat rate of Tk 7.5 per minute for making calls to ten countries that consisted of the United States, Canada, England, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The state-owned land phone operator in a statement on Wednesday said the subscribers having international subscriber’s dialling and nation-wide dialling facilities would enjoy the reduced tariff using code number '012' for making calls to China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Brunei, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Ireland, Spain, Greece and Austria.

Excepting China, South Korea, Thailand and Brunei, the board, however, would charge Tk 18 per minute for making calls to mobile phones of the remaining 11 countries

GP launches new bill payment system

2006-03-28T02:02:00.000+06:00

The GrameenPhone Ltd (GP) introduces an electronic bill payment system through FlexiLoad, for its post-Paid subscribers from today.

From now GrameenPhone’s post- paid subscribers will be able to pay their bills with any amount starting from Tk 150 to Tk 50, 000 at any time of the day.

To pay GP post-paid bill through this system, a subscriber only needs to visit the nearest GrameenPhone authorized FlexiLoad retail outlets or points of sale with the FlexiLoad post-paid sign. After successful completion of the payment, both the subscriber and the retailer will receive a confirmation SMS.

Post-paid subscribers of GrameenPhone namely GP Regular, GP National, Anytime 500 and Business Solutions subscribers will enjoy this FlexiLoad service.

Introduction of this system will make the bill payment easy and hassle-free. The subscribers will not face any queue or time barrier while paying bill.

GrameenPhone opens subscriber info office

2006-03-25T02:11:00.000+06:00

The largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, GrameenPhone, recently launched a digital data entry of its subscribers under the new registration programme.

Data entry from the registration forms filled in by subscribers has started in the new office at Basundhara City on Panthapath equipped with 600 computers from mid- March.

All the bits of information on a subscriber, according to the registration form, are stored in the main server.

GrameenPhone information department general manager Syed Yamin Bakht said the decision on the beginning of re-registration would be made soon as the process needed to be completed by May as directed by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

New subscribers will need to fill in the registration forms, designed by the regulatory commission, available with 600 GrameenPhone service desks spanning 61 districts.

Eight major customer centres in six cities control the service desks and collect all forms of the subscribers. The forms are sent to the office at Basundhara City for data entry. The hard copies are stored in the operator’s warehouse at Tejgaon.

Sources said the operator, which has about five million subscribers, has 1,400 people with it across Bangladesh.

GrameenPhone, which had a subscriber base of 2.4 million in December 2004, doubled the number to five million covering 60 per cent of the market, said Syed Yamin Bakht.

11 digits in GP numbers from April 2nd week

2006-03-23T01:22:00.000+06:00

All GrameenPhone (GP) mobile phone numbers will change to 11-digit series from the second week of April, sources in GrameenPhone said. The GP SMS service centre number will also be change to an 11- digit number. A separate digit will be added after the GrameenPhone prefix 017 while the other digits will remain unchanged. The additional digit after the prefix 017 for all existing GrameenPhone subscribers will be ‘1’. The GP SMS service centre number will be change from +880170000600 to +8801700000600.

Flat call charge for 15 more countries okayed

2006-03-16T01:35:00.000+06:00

** New rate to come into effect by a week

The finance ministry has approved a Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board proposal for extension of flat international call rate of Tk 7.5 per minute to 15 more countries.
The board officials on Wednesday said the new rate was likely to be introduced by a week on completion of necessary formalities. The flat rate is currently available for 10 countries.
Sources in the finance ministry said the finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, had approved the economy overseas call rate on March 9, and the decision was notified to the post and telecommunications ministry on Monday.
The state-owned land phone operator in January placed a proposal to the telecom ministry for introduction of the flat rate for making calls to China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Brunei, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Ireland, Spain, Greece and Austria. The telecom ministry later forwarded the proposal to the finance ministry.
The board currently charges Tk 24 and Tk 18 per minute respectively during the peak and off-peak hours for making calls to China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Brunei, and Tk 27 and Tk 21 per minute respectively during the peak and off-peak hours for the rest of the proposed countries.

Excluding China, South Korea, Thailand and Brunei, the board, however, proposed Tk 18 as charge per minute for making calls to the mobile phones of the remaining 11 countries.
Earlier, on December 30, 2003, the board first introduced the flat rate of Tk 7.5 per minute for making calls to ten countries: the United States, Canada, England, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The board subscribers having ISD (international subscriber’s dialling) and NWD (nation-wide dialling) telephones will enjoy the reduced tariff.

The NWD telephone users will be able to make ISD calls at the reduced rate through direct dialling by using a new code ‘012’, said a board engineer adding that one can also make calls to those countries by using the existing ‘00’ code.

The board plans to expand the economy rate ISD call facilities to more countries as it loses crores of revenue from international calls due to illegal internet telephony, which is also referred to as Voice over Internet Protocol, officials said.
Besides, the board got a very positive response after introducing the flat rate to 10 countries and revenue from calls to those countries rose sharply, they added.

According to the board statistics, the board, before the introduction of economy ISD rate, on an average would earn about Tk 8.27 crore a month from the 10 countries, but the revenue earning rose to about Tk 9.4 crore after the introduction of the flat rate.

'The reduced rate will help the board to regain some of its lost revenue as around 40 per cent of its revenue comes from overseas calls,' said a top official.
According to a study of the board, the government loses around Tk 1,000 crore each year because of the internet telephony.

Govt decides on open licensing for VoIP operation

2006-03-15T02:15:00.000+06:00

The government has decided to provide the Voice over Internet Protocol operation licence to the private sector through open licensing system.

Sources in the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission have said the government had decided last year to go for open licensing system for VoIP operations and finalised the terms and conditions in this regard.

'Under the open licensing system, a company with sound financial strength could obtain a licence from the commission after fulfilling certain criteria,' said a top official of the regulatory commission on Tuesday.

The licence will initially be provided for five years and may be renewed if the operator’s performance is satisfactory, said the official.

Earlier, the government had fixed Tk 50 lakh and Tk 50 thousand as the highest and lowest licence fees for VoIP operation licence on the basis of the bandwidth use.

The government fixed eight bandwidth slabs and an operator would have to pay Tk 50 thousand for the licence of using the bandwidth capacity of 64kbps, the lowest slab, and Tk 50 lakh for the bandwidth capacity of STM 4, the highest slab.

The BTRC officials, however, said although the government had already fixed the licence fees and terms and conditions for VoIP operation, it would not start giving the licences before the establishment of common exchange platforms.

The government earlier planned to set up common exchange platforms in four places — Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Bogra — to monitor the voice traffic data and ensure revenue earning from the VoIP operators.

The platforms will be established at a cost of Tk 30 crore.
The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, which will manage the platforms, floated a tender in January for setting up the platform in Dhaka initially.

VoIP, also known as internet telephony, is a technology for transmitting voice calls over
the internet in digital packets rather than over circuit of the public-switched telephone network.

The cabinet on November 10, 2003 approved VoIP and asked the telecom regula-tory body to open the sector soon for making overseas calls cheaper.

Meanwhile, some people have earned windfalls from illegal VoIP operations, though punishable under the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act 2001, depriving the government of revenue amounting to around Tk 1,000 crore a year, according to the regulatory commission.

Bangladesh ISP list with contacts

2006-02-03T23:36:00.000+06:00

Access Telecom (BD) Ltd.
Mr.Zain Omar
Suite-901, Concord Tower, 113, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka
Phone: 9335607-10
Email: zainomar at accesstel.net
web: www.accesstel.net

Aftab IT Ltd.
Mr. Akhtaruzzaman Manju
Eastern Trade Center (14th floor)
56 Inner circular Road, Dhaka
Phone: 9352356, 0171527523
Email: manju at aitlbd.net
Wev: www.aitlbd.net

Agni Systems Ltd
Mr. Md.A.Salam
Navana Tower, (11th floor)
Suite-A, 45, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-
Phone: 8812379
Email: info at agni.com
Web: www.agni.com

Akij Online Ltd
SK. Aminuddin
Akij Chamber, 73-Dilkusha, Dhaka
Phone: 9571278-80
Email: info at akijonline.com

Asia Pacific Communication
Sk. Abdur Rahim
Keari Plaza (4th floor)
83, Satmasjid Road,Dhanmondi 8/A
Dhaka-1209
Phone-9666314, 0173005899
Email-skrahim at apcbd.com

Bangladesh Internet Exchange Ltd
Mr. Rafel Kabir
House-26, Road-328, Block-K, Banani, Dhaka-1213.
Phone: 9893308-9
Email: info at bdnet.com.bd

Bangladesh Online Ltd.
Mr. Ershad Shafi Chowdhury
32, Karwan Bazar,Dhaka 1215
Phone: 9129944, 0171538734
Email: iru at bol-online.com
Web: www.bol-online.com

BDCOM Online Ltd.
Mr. Sumon Ahmed Shabir
House-59, Road-4/A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Phone: 9124590, 8610917-8
Email: sumon at bdcom.com, info at bdcom.com
Web: www.bdcom.com

Bijoy Online Ltd.
Mr. Nawshad Ahmed
Silver Tower, (15th floor) 52, Gulshan South Avenue Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212.
Phone: 8820301-4, 019380798
Email: nawshad at bijoy.net

Brac BDMail Ltd.
Mr. Nizam Uddin
Aarong Bhaban, 18th Level, 65-66 Mohakhali, Dhaka
Phone: 9124590, 9883978
Email: mnizam at bdmail.net

Broadband Telecom Services Ltd.
Mr. Anwarul Haque
Ispahani Building (5th floor)
Agrabad C/A, Chittagong-4100
Phone: 031-714126, 018-383496
Email: anwar at bbts.net

BTS Communications (BD) Ltd.
Mr. Abdul Kader
Swapnil-4, Mirzazangal Sylhet - 3100, Bangladesh
Phone: 9860044, 821-715395, 0189257998, 9862916
Email: bts at btsnet.net

Citech CyberNet Ltd
Subrata Sarker Shuvra
Aziz Bhaban (6th floor), 93,
Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Tel- 7170990-1
Email-shuvra at citech.net

Connect BD Ltd.
Mr. Khandoker A. Al. Azad
House-42, Road-1/A, Block-1, Banani, Dhaka
Phone: 8816491-2, 0191328003
Email: azad at connectbd.com

CPM Blue Online Ltd
Md. Khalequzzaman
Road-12/A, House-79, (4th floor),Dhanmondi,R/A, Dhaka-1209.
Phone: 8154352, 8112458
Fax: 8753290
Email: s.sharif at cpm-bd.com

Cyberx IT Ltd.
S.M. Golam Faruk Alamgir
586/C, Khilgaon, R/A,(Ground Floor), Dhaka
Phone: 7211616, 7212266
Email: arman at cyberxbd.com

Daffodil Online Ltd
Mr.S.M.Altaf Hossain
102, Shukrabad, Mirpur Road,Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Phone: 9143258-60, 0189212555
Email: ceo at daffodilnet.com

Data Edge Ltd
Mr. Asifuzzaman
Yousuf Chamber (2nd floor) 20-Dilkusha C/A Dhaka-1000
Phone: 7170368-70
Email: asif at data-edge.com
Fax: 7170022

Data Net Corporation Ltd.
Mr. Shaiful Alam
19/2, West Panthapath, Dhaka
Phone: 9113232
Email: litu at 1postbox.com

Dekko Airnet Ltd.
Mr. Faisal Asif Rahman
T.K. Bhaban (17th Floor), 13, Kawran Bazar, Dhaka-1215.
Phone No : +880-2-9110268, 9112492
Fax : +880-2-8123608
E-mail : info at danl.com.bd; info at dekko.net.bd
Web: http://www.dekko.net.bd

Desh Online Services
Mr. Pronab Chatterjee
83/4, Kadamtala, East Bashaboo,
Dhaka-1214
Phone-7205304, 0189297853
Email: pronab at deshonline.net

Dhaka Com Ltd.
Mr.M.A.Hakim
Navana Tower (7th floor) 45 Gulshan South C/A Circle – 1, Dhaka
Phone: 8819220
Email: admindiv at dhakacom.com

Dominox Technologies Ltd
Mr.Anirban Bera
House-1/A, (5th floor), Road-23, Gulshan –1, Dhaka-1212.
Phone: 9894763-9894737
Email: anirban.bera at dominox.com

Dotcom Network Ltd.
Mr. S. M. Nurul Huda
10/18, Eastern Plaza, Hatirpool, Dhaka
Phone: 8620313
Email: sardar at dotbd.com

Drik Net Ltd.
Mr. Russel Zia
House- 58, Road-15/A, Dhanmondi Dhaka
Phone: 9120125
Email: russel at drik.net

Druti Network Ltd
Dr.Md.Asaduzzaman Khan
House-28, Shahjalal Avenue,
Sector-04, Uttara, dhaka-1230
Tel- 8919173,8963963
Email-dr.asad at druti.net

Geotel IT Ltd
Md.Majibul Hoque
69/1, Purana Paltan Line
Dhaka-1000.
Tel-8357325
Email-majib at xpeedgroup.com

Global Access Ltd.
Mr. Humayun Kabir
Grameen IT Park, Grameen Bank Bhaban Mirpur-2, Dhaka-1216
Phone: 8011597, 9013363
Email: humayun at golbd.net

Global Information Network Ltd.
Mr. Ali Ashraf
House-245/A, Road-2, CDA- Agrabad,Chittagong
Phone: 031-726315-7
Email: ashraf at globalctg.net

Global Link Telecom Ltd
Abdullah. A. Mamun
91, New Eskaton Road, Dhaka
Phone: 9332000
Email: amamun at glinktel.com
Web: www.glinktel.com

Global Online Services Ltd.
Mr. Russell T. Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer
Safura Tower (12th flr),
20 Kamal Ataturk Avenue Banani, Dhaka
Phone: 8861100
Email: info at global-bd.net

Grameen Cyber Net Ltd.
Mr. Azhar Chowdhury
RM Center 4th Floor, 101 Gulshan Avenue
Dhaka-1212
Phone: 8812103, 8857809, 9886301-2
Email: azhar at citechco.net

Ichinet Ltd.
Mr. Dipak Bhattacharjee
10-HSS Road, Chittagong
Phone: 031-624932
Email: dipak at banol.net

Information Services Network Ltd.
Mr. S.M. Iqbal
52, New Eskaton Road, (1st floor) Dhaka
Phone: 8322785-8
Email: iqbal at bangla.net

Insoft Systems Ltd.
Mr.Shoeb Chowdhury
Ahamed Tower (5th floor), House-54/1, Road- 4/A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Phone: 8629027
Email: insoft at neksus.com

Intech Online ltd
Mr. Jami Mohammad Khan
3/1-H, Purana Paltan Dhaka-1000.
Phone: 9553886, 9553715
Email: jami at intechworld.net

International Computer Connections
Mr. Saiful Islam Siddique
BSRS Bhaban (4th floor), 12, Kawran Bazar, Dhaka-1215.
Phone: 9111514, 9110908
F ax : 8129734
Email: saiful at icc.com.bd

Libra Computer Aid.
Javed Bukth
House-99, Road 11/A, Dhanmondi
Phone: 8112881, 8112908
Email: libra at bangla.net

Link3 Technologies Ltd.
Mr. Ziaul Islam
Landview 8th Floor, 28 Gulshan North C/A, Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212
Phone: 8818496
Email: izia at link3.net, info at link3.net
WWW: http://www.link3.net

Maisha Technologies Ltd
Mr. Mufti Mohammed Zahid
House-17, Road-3, Block-B
Bansree, Rampura, Dhaka.
Phone: 7286790, 7287600
Email: info at mtlbd.net

Metronet Bangladesh Ltd.
Ferdous A. Khan
12-Sonargaon Road 18th floor, Sonartori Tower, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: 9671381
Email: info at metrobd.net

MLB Net
M A. Juber Ahmed Khan
885-Old Hospital Road, Moulavibazar.
Phone: 0861-61378
Email: jbar at mlbd.net

Net Access Bangladesh
Mohammad Wasiuddin Rajesh.
Meherba Plaza (9th floor),33, Topkhana Road, Dhaka.
Phone: 9567405,9559233,9550654
Mobile: 0173004561
email: rajesh at sayboltgroup.com, rajeshdhk at gmail.com

New Generation Graphics Limited
Khadem Mahmud Yusuf
Safura Tower (13th floor)
20, Kamal Ataturk Avenue,
Banani, Dhaka.
Phone: 8856203, 8859365

Poly IT Ltd
Md. Sanwar Hossain
52/2, Toyenbee Circular Road, Motijheel, Dhaka
Phone: 7125925
Email: sanwar75 at hotmail.com

Pradeshta Ltd.
Mr. Samudra E Haque
House-24, Road-13/C, Block-E, Banani, Dhaka
Phone: 9882751, 9884674
Email: haqe at prodeshta.com

Proshika Computer Systems
Mr. Qazi Rubayet Ahmed
Proshika Bhaban, Section-2, Mirpur, Dhaka
Phone: 8012717
Email: rubayet at bdonline.com
Web: www.bdonline.com

Ranks ITT Ltd
Mr. Zia Uddin Pasha
Rangs Bhaban (12th floor)
113/116, Old Airport Road, Tajgoan, Dhaka
Phone: 9139954, 9145427-28
Email: info at ranksitt.net

Reve Systems
Mr. Rezaul Hassan
308-C, Mailbag Chowdhury Para, Dhaka-1219.
Phone: 7217330
Email: info at revesoft.com

Reza Telecom Bangladesh
Md. Rezaul Karim
72/1, Malibagh, Property Rice, Uit-15, Dhaka
Phone: 9355868, 8355479
Email: nislam_76 at hotmail.com

Simni IT Indusies Ltd
Muhammad Imran
Sattar Chamber (4th floor) 99-Agrabad, C/A, Chittagong
Phone: 031-713477
Email: simni at simnibd.com

Sirius Broadband (BD) Ltd
Mansur Habib
Awal Cener (17th floor) 34, Kamal Ataturk Avenue, Banani C/A, Dhaka
Phone: 9891843
Email: mansur at siriusbb.com

Software Shop Limited
Mr. Mahabub Morshed
27-28 Main Road Block-Kha, Section – 6, Mirpur, Dhaka
Phone: 8019179, 9116496
Email: cgl at concorde.bangla.net

Spectra Net Ltd 0020.
Mr. Faisal Jalil Chowdhury
Specatra Net Ltd, Sattar Chamber, 99 Agrabad C/A, Chittagong
Phone: 031-710405-7
Email: fjasc at spnetctg.com

Square InformatiX Limited
Mr. Ahmed Ullah Bhuyian.
Square Centre, 48, Mohakhali Commercial Area, Dhaka-1212.
Phone: 8817729-38, 011849899
E-mail: ahmed at squaregroup.com, marketing at e-home2u.com

Techno Online Ltd
Mr. Rubiyat Hossain
House-256, Road-6, CDA, Agrabad,
Chittagong-4100
Phone: 031-813133, 813704
Email: rubiyat at techno-bd.net

Texas Electronics Ltd.
Mr. Kaiser Huda, Chief Operating Officer
Safura Tower (9th flr),
20 Kamal Ataturk Avenue Banani, Dhaka
Phone: 8861111
Email: info.tel at texasgroup.net

Westec Ltd.
Mr.Rabiul Hossain
52/1, New Eskaton, H.H. Building (4th Floor), Dhaka
Phone: 9352824
Email: info at bdlink.com

Western Network Ltd.
Mr. Helal Khan
602, Concord Tower, 113, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. Dhaka
Phone: 8311312
Email: info at wnbd.com

Source: ispabd.org

BTRC asks mobile operators to stop free late night calls

2006-01-15T02:31:00.000+06:00

The Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Regulatory Commission has asked mobile phone operators to discontinue free-call facilities late into the night, with a view to protecting ‘the young generation from the erosion of moral values’.

The commission on Monday asked all the five operators to discontinue free-call facilities as it had received numerous complaints from guardians and others that the facilities were causing moral degradation and change in lifestyle among young people, said a highly placed BTRC source on Friday.

'The commission has taken the decision as it received scores of telephone calls and written complaints from parents for end to such free late-night call facilities,' said a BTRC policymaker.

The official said parents had registered complaints to the commission that with free late-night call facilities, their children indulged in long chats with friends or romantic partners, which was hampering their studies and changing their lifestyle.

'The free phone call offer does not conform with the country’s values and culture, put ill effect on young people and promote romantic relationship between opposite sexes which is usually frowned at by our Muslim-dominated society,' said the official.

Moreover, an intelligence agency of the government also pressed the commission to ban the free call on the same ground.

Currently, two mobile phone operators — GrameenPhone and CityCell — are offering free phone calls for their 'djuice' and 'Alap Super Plus' packages respectively between 12:00am and 6:00am targeting the young segment of the population as part of their sales promotion campaign to boost the number of subscribers.

Mobile phone operators said they were yet to receive any such directive from the commission.
'GrameenPhone has not received any such directive,' said a spokesman of the company.
However, the mobile operators termed the government action as 'ridiculous.'
'The ground of ban is ridiculous, and if the government does so, it should also ban all the restaurants, fast food joints and universities on the same ground,' said an official of GrameenPhone.

'While mobile operators in Bangladesh battle to outdo one another by offering customers the best possible features, such a move would dampen the competition,' said an official of CityCell.

Bangladesh has seen a rapid surge in mobile phone subscriptions over the past three years with more than 100 per cent growth.

Currently, five mobile operators have around one crore subscribers while the sixth, Warid Telecom, set to start its operation within nine months.

Aktel New Offer - Exceed

2005-12-04T18:15:00.000+06:00

Simply Irresistible!

FREE* outgoing at Happy Hour and LOWEST rate to 3FnF numbers
The revolution burns bright with AKTEL exceed. Now enjoy the most irresistible rates, and talk for free* at Happy Hour throughout the night and at the lowest rates to your selected 3FnF numbers. Don't miss the revolution - rush to your nearest outlet and get an AKTEL exceed connection now. Stocks are limited, so don't forget to spread the word.
The revolution continues…

Note
-
BTTB timeband will be applicable for BTTB charges
-
VAT applicable to all charges
-
Connection price (including VAT):

·
MobileLink (mobile-mobile): Tk 550.00

·
Standard (BTTB incoming and outgoing: Tk 1,550.00
-
Conditions apply
-
This tariff is applicable till 31 March '06
-
This offer is applicable for Pre-Paid Standard and MobileLink users only
Existing Pre-Paid customers can migrate* to AKTEL exceed Tariff Plan:

To register

Step 1: Go to message option of your handset

Step 2: Type exceed

Step 3: Send to 8MIG (8644 of your handset)

*Migration charge Tk. 100
You can now migrate to AKTEL's regular tariff plan at standard SMS charge:
Type regular and send to 8MIG (8644).

Note: You will not be able to register to AKTEL exceed again.

source: Aktel webpage

VOIP Voice Over IP

2005-12-04T05:34:00.000+06:00

VoIP is a quickly growing technology that has many traditional telecommunications companies worried about the future of traditional calling services. VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, allows you to make telephone calls using a data network like the Internet. VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the Internet then converts it back at the other end so you can speak to anyone with a regular phone number. When placing a VoIP call using a phone with an adapter, you'll hear a dial tone and dial just as you always have. VoIP may also allow you to make a call directly from a computer using a conventional telephone or a microphone.

GrameenPhone customer centres now open everyday

2005-11-27T10:16:00.000+06:00

The GrameenPhone customer centres will remain open every day even on all public holidays. This will make GP's after-sales services more available for the subscribers, says a press release.

At the same time, the working hour of the GP customer centres has also been extended from 8am to 8pm every day.

The GP customer centres are providing after-sales services like SIM replacement, reconnection, migration, address change, itemized billing, unbarring/payment information and information about GP products, features and services.

GrameenPhone presently has eight customer centres across the country. Among them, four centres are in Dhaka --Gulshan, Motijheel, Dhanmondi and Uttara.

The remaining four are located in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet.

In addition, GrameenPhone has also established 152 service desks in 50 districts around the country which also provide after-sales services.

These GPSDs are located at some of the existing GP points of sales and are open from 10am to 6pm from Sunday to Thursday.

BRAC Bank to offer banking services through GP mobile

2005-11-24T01:21:00.000+06:00

BRAC Bank Ltd. signed an agreement with GrameenPhone Ltd. recently to offer financial services to its clients through SMS (Short Message Services).

Under the agreement, the clients of BRAC Bank will be able to check their account details and status of issued cheques through SMS. They will also able to place request for bank statements and cheque books through SMS.

Only the joint subscribers of GrameenPhone and BRAC Bank will enjoy the facility which will be available soon.

The agreement was signed by GrameenPhone Marketing Division Director Kafil HS Muyeed and BRAC Bank Retail Banking Head Saifuddin M Naser.

BRAC Bank Senior Manager (IT) Syed Abdul Momen, Manager (Marketing and Product Development) Zahid Ibne Hai, Officer (Marketing and Product Development) Jame Rasheed, and GrameenPhone Head of Market Research and Development Rubaba Dowla Matin, Head of Value Added Service Lars Armyr and Deputy Manager (Value Added Service) Azizul Abedin were also present.

GrameenPhone extends EDGE to Sylhet

2005-11-22T02:11:00.000+06:00

The largest cellphone operator of the country GrameenPhone Monday extended its EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution) technology, a high-speed mobile internet and data service, to the Sylhet region.

Earlier, EDGE service was available in Dhaka and Chittagong after its commercial launching on September.

'The GP subscribers in Sylhet now can enjoy services such as downloading video and music clips, sending and receiving multimedia messages, accessing the internet and sending and receiving e-mail,' said Grameenphone managing director Erik Aas at a meet the press in Sylhet on Monday.

He told newsmen that the population wise coverage of GrameenPhone across the country was 55 per cent at beginning of the year which would be 90 per cent at the end of this year.

'We have spent around $300 million this year alone in network expansion,' said Erik, adding that GP has recently crossed the 5 million subscribers mark.

Erik Aas said call charges have already reduced in two phases during this year and it will be continued further.

'I believe the number of mobile subscribers will be increased if the government reduces tax on SIM card and the tariff will also come down further if the operators get more subscribers.'

He told that a total of 150 service desks of GrameenPhone have been launched across the country, including nine desks in the Sylhet region to ensure availability of the services.

GrameenPhone general manager (information) Syed Yamin Bakht and deputy general manager Awlad Hussain were also present.

GrameenPhone reiterates demand for tax cut on SIM cards

2005-11-22T02:06:00.000+06:00

GrameenPhone Ltd, the leading cellphone operator, yesterday reiterated its demand for tax cut on SIM cards to boost the growth of mobile phone industry.

Tk 900 tax on SIM cards has slowed down the growth of mobile phone subscription growth in the country, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GrameenPhone Erik Aas told a press briefing at a hotel in Sylhet.

'If the government reduces the tax the market will see a major change in terms of growth,' Aas said.

Syed Yamin Bakht, general manager (Information), and Aulad Hossain, regional head of the company, also spoke at the function.

The GP officials were on an official visit to the divisional city.

'By the end this year there will be some 90 lakh customers in the country. But the number could have been 1.2 crore had there been no tax on the SIM cards,' said Aas.

AKTel customer care centre at Uttara

2005-11-20T01:14:00.000+06:00

Country's second largest cellphone operator AKTel opened its 11th customer care centre at Uttara in Dhaka on Thursday.

Ahmad Bin Ismail, managing director of the company, inaugurated the centre at a function, says a press release.

Vijay Watson, chief operating officer, Fazlur Rahman, director (Coordination), among other senior officials, were present at the inauguration.

Banglalink offers new prepaid plan

2005-11-17T02:11:00.000+06:00

Country's one of the cellphone operator Banglalink urged the government to rethink whether it would be financially viable to allow any more companies for mobile operation.

Banglalink chief commercial officer Mehboob Chowdhury, at a briefing to announce a new prepaid package, Be Linked, in Dhaka on Wednesday, said the government should look into whether the market could absorb a growing number of operators.

'How many operators can a market take? It is an important question which the government needs to find an answer to,' he said.

Citing examples of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore where at the beginning there were more than three operators now reduced to only three, Mehboob urged the government to think before allowing any more operators.

'We have told the government of the experiences of other countries and hope it would think whether allowing more operators would be viable,' he said.

There are now five mobile operators, with a base of about 80 lakh subscribers, and another company would soon be given licence.

Mehboob reiterated his company’s plan to grab more share of the growing market. ‘We will continue to offer the lowest price. If a company announces lower price plan, we will further reduce our charges.’

Banglalink now covers 57 districts and by the end of the year, it will cover 61 districts, he said.

He said some mobile operators in Europe were trying to replicate its idea of the Ladies, First package, which contributed to a 600 per cent increase in female users of Banglalink.

The new package, Be Linked, offers Tk 4.40 a minute and a 30-second pulse for calls to any mobile operators, which Banglalink officials said, is the ‘lowest peak-hour rate.’

The package has a discounted rate of Tk 3 a minute between 7:00 am and 10:00 am for calls to any operators and Tk 2.5 a minute throughout the day for calls to Banglalink numbers.

New AKTEL package launched

2005-11-16T01:04:00.000+06:00

AKTel, the second largest cellphone operator in Bangladesh, on Tuesday launched a new prepaid product, AKTel Exceed, with a new tariff plan to be available from today.

The tariff plan is available in two packages. Mobile Standard, with full standard landline connectivity, will cost Tk 1,550 and Mobile Link, a mobile to mobile plan, will cost Tk 550.

During peak hours, between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm, AKTel Exceed customers will need to pay Tk 1.9 a minute for calls to other AKTel numbers and Tk 2.4 a minute for calls to the numbers of other operators. But in all the cases, there is a connection fee of Tk 2.4 a call in addition to the minute-counted charge.

'We recognise that high tariff has always been a barrier for Bangladeshi mobile users, and with the launch of this product, AKTel is once again getting clearly ahead of other operators,' said Asif Iqbal, head of marketing of AKTel at a news briefing at the Sheraton Hotel.

'The tariff plan targets high- end users who want to speak longer within budget, as it will provide them significantly more talk time at the same cost,' Asif said.

The Exceed tariff plan is built into a new product package, especially marked with the AKTel Exceed logo that will be available on the market from today at authorised outlets and customer care centres. The new offer will continue till February 28, 2006.

The existing users of prepaid plan can also migrate to the Exceed tariff plan by texting ‘exceed’ to 8MIG (8644), with a service charge of Tk 100.

AKTel chief executive officer Vijay Watson said the new product was ‘exciting’ and would help to increase customer base of the operator, now at more than 22 lakh.

GrameenPhone crosses 5 million subscribers mark

2005-11-15T01:19:00.000+06:00

GrameenPhone Limited (GP), the country’s largest mobile phone operator, recently crossed the landmark of 5 million subscribers.

The subscriber base of the company has become more than a double in the first 10 months of the current year.

Started the year with nearly 2.4 million subscribers, GrameenPhone reached the 3 million subscribers landmark in March and 4 million in September.

The Eid sales campaign in October received a very good response. Both the prepaid — Easy, Easy Gold and djuice — and post-paid packages were offered at very attractive prices during the campaign.

'This is a remarkable achievement as we had only 4 million users in September,' the GrameenPhone managing director, Erik Aas, said in a statement.

He said all their customers had appreciated the tariff reductions from early October, and combined with the successful Eid campaign they had seen a huge demand for all the GP products.

GrameenPhone has built the largest network with the widest coverage — 400 upzilas in 61 districts — and holds 62 percent shares of the country’s mobile phone market.

Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s population has been brought under the coverage of the GrameenPhone network.