Warid Telecom:

Warid Telecom International Ltd. is a GSM-based cellular operator in Bangladesh. Warid is the sixth mobile phone carrier to enter the Bangladesh market. It is wholly owned subsidiary of Warid Telecom International LLC which is the part of an Abu Dhabi based consortium led by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, a Member of the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi, and the Honorable Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates.

Warid officially launched their commercial services in Bangladesh on the May 10, 2007 with a GSM Mobile Cellular network covering 64 districts of the country and encompassing 70% of the mobile phone using population the single largest launch the country has ever seen.

On July 19, 2007 Warid Telecom announced in major dailies of having achieved one million subscribers in the first of 70 days of operation.

As of September, 2008 Warid has secured 3.86 million subscribers and is ranked fourth among the six operators .



NGN Network:

The network that has been deployed in Bangladesh by Warid is based on the NGN or Next Generation Technology a future proof architectural system which ensures optimum utilization of frequency and enhances speed and quality of both voice and data services.



Products Offered:

Warid provides both post-paid and pre paid connection plans. The post-paid plan is branded and marketed across the country under the name Warid Postpaid, which means leader or royalty. The pre paid segment is branded and marketed as Warid Prepaid.

The Warid Prepaid category is divided into four segments:

* Basic
* My Favorites
* Day Talker
* Super Saver

The Zahi Postpaid category is divided into two segments:

* Basic

Warid Postpaid and Warid Prepaid user enjoy various value added services, such as SMS, MMS, GPRS, 64K SIM, Dual SIM product, Corporate packages for product advertising via SMS, and a host of other features. However, International Roaming is available only to Warid postpaid users.



Customer Care Centers and Franchises:


Warid has ten customer care centers around the country located at key locations. These centers are directly run by Warid itself.
Customer care center at Banani.

Warid has another 120 franchises spread across Bangladesh, the largest chain of retail outlets in the country, which is further backed up by a chain of sub-franchises, affinity partners & distributors.

SIM Cards, Scratch Cards and sometimes mobile sets are sold at these outlets. Bill collection for post paid users and Zem top up for pre paid users can also be availed at the franchises. These franchises directly appoint dealers and sub dealers in their designated areas.

Teletalk Phone

TeleTalk:

TeleTalk is a GSM based state-owned mobile phone company in Bangladesh. TeleTalk started operating on 29 December, 2004. It is a Public Limited Company of Bangladesh Government, the state owned telephone operator. TeleTalk provide GPRS internet connectivity. Teletalk is the first operator in the country that gave BTTB incoming facility to its subscribers.

The mission statement of Tele Talk is Desher Taka Deshey Rakhun .

TeleTalk is the 6th largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh with 0.98 million subscribers as of October, 2008 .




Features for Tele Talk Telecharge:

Our great new service for Bangladeshi users. Recharge any Tele Talk Phone in Bangladesh using TeleCharge. You pay us and provide the mobile number; we will recharge that mobile in Bangladesh. Converted amount is shown with the value.


Local Access numbers for Tele Talk Telecharge:

Customer Service number for Tele Talk Telecharge:


Instruction for Tele Talk Telecharge:

In few steps you can recharge your family or friends mobile in Bangladesh.

1. Provide us the Tele Talk mobile number that you want to recharge.
2. Pay us using our payment process.
3. The Tele Talk Mobile will be recharged within hours.

Citycell care center

Customer Care Center:

There are 6 Customer care centers of Citycell in the country. One for each division and there are another 500 Customer care Points scattered around the country.


Criticism and Penalty:

Citycell, has been fined Tk. 1.5 billion by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for its involvement in illegal VoIP or international call termination.

Citycell's involvement in illegal VoIP, was discovered in May 2007 during a raid in the company's Mohakhali office by the BTRC.



Posts Tagged Citycell:

well, you should obviously be able to use your Citycell ZOOM or any CDMA Modem in MAC operating system. All you need is that your modem’s driver for MAC. For that you can get details from modem manufacturer website. If you can’t find any information, either contact manufacturer support or search for the driver in Google, you can also find some generic driver from MAC forums or at least information.


Citycell started EV DO Service for the first time in Bangladesh:


Just got the news yesterday that leading telecom provider Citycell, the only CDMA based mobile operator in Bangladesh is starting EV DO services soon in the country.

Initial bandwidth limit would be something around 2Mbps.



Package:

Initial packages are made available for personal use as below,

5 GB = 4500 Taka

8 GB = 6000 Taka


Connection Bandwidth:

However there is no special package or package having smaller download limit like 1GB or 500 MB what is currently available with ZOOM connection. So most of the people like me would get in trouble fitting the service for their use. Costly indeed.

Price:

The hardware modem cost is something around 12,000 Taka, again costly. Morar opor kharar gha. Again I am looking to see if any low-cost modem is available in the country. Unfortunately there is no mobile phone is available in the market in BD that supports CDMA 1X EVDO technology. I have an EVDO enabled modem that I arranged brought from China.

Coverage Area:

Initially few places of Dhaka will have the facility to enjoy EV DO service since the coverage will be available to only those places. These places are Gulshan, Bonani and Motijheel. Eventually all the places will be taken under coverage.

I am eagerly looking forward to see the service and am sure many of me who is just keen to have more bandwidth. I will publish more information regarding this once I get it and off course if I have time.

Citycell phone

Citycell:

Citycell is the first mobile communications company of Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. As of 1 March, 2008, Citycell's total mobile subscriber base is 1.56 million, up 137 per cent or 680,000 from two years ago, giving it the best growth rate of the company till date. Citycell is currently owned by Singtel with 45% stake and the rest 55% owned by Pacific Group and Far East Telecom.

By the end of 2007 Citycell had refurbished its old brand identity and introduced a new logo and corporate identity the new logo is very reminiscent of the old logo. However the slogan has remained unchanged because we care.

As of July, 2008 Citycell has 1.67 million subscribers.



Products Offered:

Citycell offers prepaid, postpaid and fixed phone plans. Since Citycell operates in CDMA, RIM's are usually sold with a phone mostly cheap Chinese sets produced by ZTE, Huawei, Samsung, Motorola and Alcatel. Citycell currently has the cheapest phone+connection tariff at 1399 taka.

Prepaid:

The current only prepaid plan is branded as Citycell One. Citycell started offering prepaid plans from 2003. It was the first to offer a prepaid plan with BTTB connectivity in the same year. In 2005, it launched the Aalap Call Me plan the first phone plan with negative tariff in the country. In this plan customers get credit added to their balance when they receive calls from other Citycell subscribers. In the same year, Citycell launched Aalap Super plan. Subscribers of this plan could make free calls to other Citycell subcribers during late night hours. This espoused numerous copycat products from its competitors. Later that year the national telecoms regulator ordered all phone companies to cease offering free call facility. In 2006, Citycell launched Hello 0123 plan. The name 0123 signified tariff of Tk 0 for calls to one Citycell number of the subcriber's choice, Tk 1 for calls to two other Citycell numbers, Tk 2 for calls to all other Citycell numbers and Tk 3 for calls to all other networks. This plan was followed up with a string of other spinoff plans that continued into 2007.

Instant Load:

As advertised in June 2008, Citycell became the first mobile operator to sign up for Instant Load. Instant Load is a joint effort from Dutch Bangla Bank and Citycell that lets pre paid account holders top up their phone through SMS anytime, without the need to visit any store or purchase any minutes. This service is being offered free of charge and it is the first service of its type in Bangladesh.

After receiving the SMS, Citycell automatically withdraws the desired amount from the bank account instantly. It is not known if the service is applicable for post paid users.

Postpaid:

The postpaid plan is branded as Citycell One. The Postpaid subscribers enjoy 4 FnF numbers to other operators,30 sec pulse applicable for all outgoing,Zoom Data service etc in additional.

Recently in Int. Tread fair 2009, Citycell Introduced a new postpaid service called VOICE DATA plan with cheaper tarrif voice call and sms on any operator and BTTB and 0.25 Tk per minute voice call and sms on any Citycell Number.

Care center

Customer care:

AKTEL has 19 Customer Care Centers[8] and 200 Customer Service Points in 61 allowable districts all over the country[9]. Aktel has another 670 AKtel Touch Points (ATP) scattered along the most densely populated areas.

AKTEL Customer Care Centers:



Dhaka:

Gulshan1

Silver Tower(1st Floor)
52, South Gulshan C/A,
Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212



Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm

Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm




Pantho path:

Bashundhara City

Level-1, Block-B, Shop-1


Service Timing: As per Market timing

Friday & Govt. Holiday: As per Market timing



Mirpur:

Nishi Plaza

Plot-1, Avenue-4, Block-C, Section-6

Mirpur, Dhaka-1212


Service Timing: 9 am to 8.00 pm

Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


mirpur:

Uttara
NZ Center(1st Floor),
House 5, Road 12,Sector 6,
Uttara Model Town, Dhaka



Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm

Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


Motijheel:

Amanullah Bhaban (2nd Floor)
63, Dilkusha C/A
Dhaka 1000



Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm

Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed



Comilla:

693/Ka 1st Floor
Jhautola,Comilla

Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


Sylhet:

Firoz Centre, (2nd Floor)
Chowhatta,
Sylhet

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed



Chittagong:

Ramna Tower (Ground floor),
36/7, CDA Avenue,
Muradpur,
Chittagong

Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm




Barik Building Moor

Saber Plaza (2nd Floor)
161, Strand Road,
Agrabad C/A, Chittagong

Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


Cox's Bazar:

Ali Noor Plaza (2nd Floor),
Main Road ,
Cox's Bazar

Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


Feni:

Feni Tower , (2nd Floor),
291, SSK Road , Feni

Service Timing: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: 9 am to 5.45 pm


Khulna:

Munna Plaza (1st Floor),
7 K.D.A Avenue ,
Khulna

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed


Bogra:

Bogra Osman House,
Kalibari, Jaleswaritola,
Judge Court Road,
Bogra

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed


Barisal:

884/240, Bashori Bazar,
South Alekanda ,
Barisal

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed

Rajshahi

House- 247, Sector# 2
Upashahor Housing Estate
Rajshahi - 6202

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed

Jessore:

MS Orchid Center
44 MK Road
Jessore

Service Timing:9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed



Mymensingh:

7C.K. Ghosh Road (1st Floor)
Mymensingh

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed



Narayanganj:

46/2, New Chashara , Jamtola
(Beside Jamtola Eidgah)
Narayanganj

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed


Kushtia:

Alo Bhaban (1st Floor),
Babur Ali Gate,NS Road,
Kushtia

Service Timing: 9 am to 5.45 pm
Friday & Govt. Holiday: Closed

Aktel different offer

Criticism and penalty:

In July 2005 an official of AKTEL was arrested on charges of misappropriation of crores of taka from the company. Avijit Kumar Saha, an executive of credit control division of AKTEL was arrested by police following a case filed accusing Avijit of misappropriating Tk 3,15,63,000 from the company.

In late 2007 Aktel had been fined BDT 1.45 billion for its involvement in the illegal use of VoIP or call termination business by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

In May 2008 BTRC issued showcause notice to AKTEL for fake re registration of subscribers.

CSR:

Aktel has been offering scholarships to three Bangladeshi students every year for bachelor courses in engineering, information technology and business administration since 1998 to study at Multimedia University in Malaysia.

It is the founding member of Chittagong Skills Development Centre (CSDC) that is offering technical training and business management education through its strategic partnership with Penang Skill Development Centre (PSDC) of Malaysia and its internal members. In 2007 Aktel received Standard Chartered-Financial Express Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award 2006 for their significant contributions to CSR and philanthropic activities.

Products offered:

Aktel offers an array of different packages. In addition to offering the fundamental pre-paid and post-paid mobile services, it offers a wide range of value added products and services such as, SMS, GPRS, mobile data services, infotainment services, SMS banking, Caller Ring Back Tone, Ringtones download, Picture Messaging, MMS, Voice Greetings, Call Blocking on 4 August 2008, which give subscriber to control which call he or she receive or not and Bengali SMS.

Aktel information

Aktel:

Aktel is the third largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh in terms of revenue and subscribers 8.59 million as of February 2009. In early 2008 Aktel slipped from the second position to the third after facing fierce competition from banglalink.

AKTEL boasts of the widest international roaming service in the market, connecting 315 operators across 170 countries. It is the first operator in the country to introduce GPRS. AKTEL uses GSM 900 or 1800 MHz standard and operates on allocated 12.8MHz frequency spectrum.


SEM:

SEM can refer to:

* SAP Strategic Enterprise Management
* Scanning electron microscope
* School of Science and Engineering (known as the Science and Engineering Magnet, SEM) at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center, Dallas, Texas
* Search engine marketing
* Security Event Manager
* Single European Market
* Sistema Eléctrico de Magallanes, a power grid in Chile
* Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (in biochemistry an organelle in cells)
* Society for Ethnomusicology
* Space Experiment Module (related to the space shuttle)
* Standard error (statistics) (for standard error of measurement or the mean)
* Strategic Enrollment Management
* Strategic enterprise management
* Structural equation modeling
* Super Étendard Modernisé, a modernised Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard, a fighter aircraft
* Swedish Evangelical Mission
* Silyl ether, [2(trimethylsilyl)ethoxy]methyl ether
* Synthesizer Expansion Module, a plug-in card by Oberheim
* Craig Field (Alabama) (IATA: SEM)

Different offer

Products Offered:

Prepaid Packages

Banglalink currently offers two prepaid plans. All the prepaid plans come in two phases Standard and M2M. All connections provide GPRS to subscribers.

* desh, with the slogan Ek desh Ek Rate, is one of the cheapest prepaid plans in the country by tariff. Users of desh can call any mobile operator at 0.69 taka during 9 AM to 5 PM. It also has three FnF numbers. desh was launched on September 14, 2006.
* desh rang is launched as a brand extension to enrich the brand of desh. Rang is a Bengali word which means color. It is introduced with the catch phrase—Rangiye Din Apnar Jeebon . This package is beneficial for customers who mainly make calls to their own network and are heavy SMS users. It offers four on net FnF numbers, but no off net FnF number.

Former Packages:

* Regular prepaid was the first package Banglalink had to offer. It is currently unavailable in the market.
* ladies, first, with the slogan Shomporker Network , was tailored for women. It was launched on September 3, 2005. It had introduced 1 second pulse for the first time in the prepaid market. It offered four FnF numbers. It is currently unavailable in the market.
* be linked! was launched on November 16, 2005. It was later taken over by desh package as all the be linked! customers were automatically migrated to desh.

Postpaid Packages

Currently there are three postpaid plans from banglalink for its retail customers. These packages are known as enterprise personal, which is a subset of much larger Banglalink enterprise. All packages come with T&T local, NWD, ISD and e ISD connectivity.

* personal package 1
* personal supplementary
* personal call and control

Former Packages:

* upper class, a postpaid platform, was launched on July 31, 2005. It was mainly targeting slightly upscale consumers. upper class was known for offering purple carpet treatment to its clients, giving special attention with separate counters at sales and customer care centers and a dedicated hotline. It had numerous packages under two different tariff plans tailor made and made to measure. In addition to those, it introduced a hybrid product named call and control designed to offer the value of postpaid with the control of prepaid. Later enterprise personal took control of upper class.

Banglalink Desh Care center

Banglalink customer care:

Banglalink delivers customer care using its call centers and customer care networks. Currently Banglalink provides customer care services to its clients through:

* Banglalink sales & care centres
* Banglalink points
banglalink point at Dhanmondi.
are aimed at providing a complete mobile solution, connections, handsets, accessories and provide selected customer services like SIM replacement, reconnection, bill payment etc.

They are strategically located at key points around the country. Kallol Group, a local distribution company, had partnered with banglalink to operate at least forty Banglalink points through out the country[11]. As of March, 2008, the deal with Kallol Group has been called off and banglalink is focusing on managing its own customer care centers.
* Banglalink service points
* Banglalink care lines are call centers serving customers 24 hours 7 days a week with instant solutions.



Criticisms and Penalty:

In October, 2007, BTRC fined banglalink Tk. 1.25 billion for its involvement in illegal VoIP or call termination business. The then BTRC chairman major general Manzurul Alam confirmed Banglalink's involvement in the illegal trade. banglalink, however, in a statement said the company has agreed to make a one time fixed payment of Tk. 1.25 billion to the government as compensation for its loss in revenues.

Banglalink initially failed to expand its network keeping pace with increased numbers of subscribers. This is because Banglalink was the fastest growing mobile operator at that time in the whole world. However, Banglalink have invested heavily in 2007 and continued that in 2008 for improving network quality. Banglalink's network coverage and network quality improved considerably and is among the best in Bangladesh now. Especially Banglalink has the best international call quality in Bangladesh.

Banglalink Desh Description

banglalink desh:

banglalink entered the market with a promise of making mobile phone affordable for people. This promise has been kept and banglalink is the first operator to introduce a flat rate for all calls for the convenience and ease of customers.

Thus banglalink desh was launched in September 2006.

banglalink desh is the best prepaid package for making calls to any network in any time. The rates for desh is tk 0.69 per min from 9am-5pm to any mobile, tk 1.25 per min from 5pm-12am to any banglalink mobile and there are 3 FnF to any mobile and lowest late night rate to banglalink Tk. 0.45 per min. banglalink desh gives you the attractive SMS rate to banglalink numbers Tk. 0.75 per SMS and to other mobile numbers Tk. 1.00 per SMS.



In addition, banglalink desh stands out as the best pre paid package for making calls to any network for the following reasons:

1) Special window: starts from 9am-5pm at Tk. 0.69 per min to any mobile

2) Lowest FnF rate for banglalink numbers: banglalink desh offers you the lowest FnF rate to call banglalink FnF number 45paisa per min.

3) Late night rate from 12 am - 9am: Only banglalink desh offers you late night rate facility during peak hours. banglalink desh late night rate is applicable from 12 am - 9am. The rate is
a. 45 paisa/min - banglalink to banglalink
b. 99 paisa/min - from banglalink to any other operator

4) Bonus on Incoming: banglalink desh customers now get bonus minutes & SMS on bonus for incoming calls. A customer will receive 20% bonus as minutes & SMS if he has minimum 50 minutes from other operator's mobile in the previous month.

5) Lifetime Validity: lifetime validity on prepaid account gives a customer the benefit of receiving incoming calls and staying connected forever. To get lifetime validity, a customer has to recharge his pre paid account with a minimum amount of Tk. 10 or above .

6) EISD facility: You can call to 55 countries from your desh connections at economy rate.

Banglalink information

Banglalink:

Banglalink is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh after grameenphone. As of June, 2009, Banglalink has a subscriber base of more than 11 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom.

Banglalink had 1.03 million connections until December, 2005. The number of Banglalink users increased by 257 per cent and stood at 3.64 million at the end of 2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year. In August, 2006, Banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming calls from BTTB for both postpaid and prepaid connections. On August 20, 2008, Banglalink got past the landmark of 10 million subscriber base.

Banglalink enterprise:

Banglalink enterprise offers a wide range of products and services to suit the needs of the business community. Companies under the enterprise package are provided with a dedicated enterprise relationship manager who provides them with personalized customer care round the clock. Other benefits of enterprise include customized packages with attractive call charges and connection price, enterprise SMS broadcast, enterprise short code, international roaming, missed call alerts, free voice mail retrieval, fax and data service, call conferencing, special offer for family members and many more. It was first launched in December, 2006. The current packages are:

* enterprise corporate; targeted at the corporate segment
* enterprise SME; targeted at the SME segment
* enterprise personal

Prior to the launch of banglalink enterprise, banglalink served the business clientele through a similar platform named banglalink professional.

Care Center

Grameenphone Centers:


A grameenphone center (GPC) serves as a one stop solution for customers, with all telecommunications products and services, under a single roof. A grameenphone center also sells phones from vendors like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola,Sagem and Benq. EDGE GPRS modems and accessories such chargers and headphones are also sold at GPCs.

As of September, 2007, there are 76 GPCs and they are strategically located at all major locations of the country is operated by Grameenphone. As of late most of the newly opened gpc's are franchised. Most of these franchised outlets are in non-metropolitan areas.

The GPCs also provide the flexiload service without charging extra for small denominations unlike many retailers in the country. Thus making the gpc's and ideal place for many for such a service.

Every once a while, the GPCs tie up with handset manufactures and start a nationwide marketing scheme by selling the specific vendors products at a price lower than the market's or in bundle with a grameenphone connection loaded with free minutes.



Community Information Centers:

Community Information Center CIC or GPCIC is aimed at providing internet access and other communications services to rural areas. In February 2006, 26 CICs were established across the country as a pilot project. In this project, Grameenphone provides GSM or EDGE or GPRS infrastructure and technical support and other partners Grameen Telecom Corporation and Society for Economic and Basic Advancement (SEBA), are involved in selecting and training entrepreneurs to run the village centers. The computers in these centers in the pilot project are used by an average of 30 people a day, who pay a small fee to access email or Web pages. These CICs are used for a wide variety of business and personal purposes, from accessing health and agricultural information to using government services to video conferencing with relatives overseas. Grameenphone also trains the entrepreneurs so that they can give people advice on how to set up an e-mail account and best make use of the Internet.

CIC project is giving up to 20 million people the chance to use the Internet and e-mail for the first time. Following a successful pilot project, Grameenphone is going to set up approximately 560 centers in communities throughout Bangladesh by the end of 2006. The centers will be located in each Upazila of Bangladesh. As a result, up to 15 villages containing up to 40,000 people will be within reach of each CIC. In this information center, there will be personal computers connected to Grameenphone's existing GSM mobile network, which has been upgraded with EDGE technology to offer data transfer speeds of up to 16 kilobytes per second.

Wireless Federation

Grameenphone selects Huawei to deploy powered BTSs in Bangladesh:

Huawei, a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced that it has been selected by Grameenphone (GP), a subsidiary of Telenor, to deploy Bangladesh’ s first solar powered base transceiver stations (BTS).

Huawei will install its fourth-generation base stations, using a solar and diesel generator hybrid power solution to provide mobile connectivity in rural areas. The base stations will primarily be powered by harnessing solar energy without having to be linked to an electricity grid. The diesel generator will be used as a backup.

Bangladesh home to 44.6Mn mobile subscribers by 2008 end:

According to Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Bangladesh finished 2008 with a mobile subscriber base of 44.6 million by adding 10.27 million subscribers in the year, at a growth rate of 30% compared to the 62% growth recorded in 2007. According to statistics revealed, Grameenphone lead the market by adding 4.51 million in 2008, taking its total subscriber base to 20.99 million at 2008 end, followed by Banglalink which added 3.25 million subscribers and AKTEL adding 1.8 million to reach a subscriber base of 10.33 million and 8.20 million, respectively.
The new entrant to the market, Warid Telecom ended 2008 with a subscriber base of 2.33 million a step further of CityCell and Teletalk, who stood at a subscriber base of 1.81 million and 980,000 respectively.


GrameenPhone adds 106,000 new GSM subscribers in Q2'09(Bangladesh):

Bangladeshi mobile operator GrameenPhone (GP) said it added 106,000 net new GSM subscribers during the second quarter of 2009, resulting in a slight decline in market share, but still accounting for at least 45% of all users in the country; according to a report, GP had a 45.5% share of subscribers at end March 2009. GP ended June with a subscriber base of 21.16 million, where as according to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, smaller rival Banglalink, owned by Egypt’s Orascom, added almost double GP’s number of net new users in 2Q (or 204,000), to take its total to 11.04 million. GP, 62%-owned by Telenor, posted a 10% year on-year rise in revenues in the three months ended 30 June 2009 to USD236 million, which it attributed to the increase in its customer base, higher average prices (the company has recently removed handset subsidies) and increased interconnectivity revenues due to the introduction an international gateway in the fourth quarter of 2008, which were partly offset by reduced domestic interconnection fees.CEO Oddvar Hesjedal said, ‘The increasing revenue growth trend I think accurately demonstrates that the management is willing to make the right changes at the right time to bolster the company during the lull in the economy.In light of the current market conditions growth is definitely a positive indicator of the business prospects of GrameenPhone. Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped by 1% year-on-year, attributed to lower usage and reduced interconnection fees.


Grameenphone's ARPU falls by 7% in 2008(Bangladesh):

GrameenPhone, cuntry’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has posted a net profits of $47.4 million in 2008, rising from $1.8million in 2007. The Bangladeshi incumbent added nearly 4.5million subscribers in 2008 compared to 6 million in 2007 and ended the year with 20.99 million GSM subscribers. The lowered net additions and lowered handset subsidy has led to a rise in net income of the operator. The operator’s annual revenues rose by 13% though the monthly ARPU dropped by 7% since last year.


GrameenPhone delays IPO olans led by economic crunch (Bangladesh):

GrameenPhone, Bangladesh, delays its IPO plans led by economic breakdown globally. Anders Jensen, CEO GrameenPhone, says that the telco has postponed the pre-IPO process due to hesitancy among international investors, and now expects the shares to be floated in February 2009. The operator had earlier sought to raise $300Mn half through a private placement and half via a subsequent domestic IPO. But now the Bangladeshi operator hplans to raise $50Mn in the pre IPO sale, subjected to an rise if demand exceeds expectations, and $75Mn in an IPO on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.

Networking

Network:

According to Grameenphone, it has so far invested more than BDT 10,700 crore (USD 1.6 billion) to build the network infrastructure since 1997. It has invested over BDT 3,100 crore (USD 450 million) during the first three quarters of 2007 while BDT 2,100 crore (USD 310 million) was invested in 2006 alone.

Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 percent of the country's population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network.

The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE GPRS enabled, allowing access to high speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area. There are currently nearly 3 million EDGE GPRS users in the Grameenphone network.Grameenphone holds both GSM 900 MHz and GSM 1800 MHz spectrum, which are scheduled for renewal in 2011. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (the BTRC) is actively working to issue 3G licences in Bangladesh during 2009.


Grameenphone has the largest network with the widest coverage in Bangladesh and the entire network is EDGE GPRS enabled. The Grameenphone network currently covers almost the entire population of the country.The government has not yet announced any plans to issue UMTS licenses in Bangladesh.The government has not yet announced any plans to issue UMTS licenses in Bangladesh.The government has not yet announced any plans to issue UMTS licenses in Bangladesh.

Grameenphone information,description.

Grameenphone:

Grameenphone widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 20 million subscribers , Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 62% shares of grameenphone and Grameen Telecom owns the rest 38%.Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh. It also established the first 24 hour Call Center to support its subscribers. With the slogan Stay Close, stated goal of Grameenphone is to provideaffordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh.Telenor’s 62% ownedsubsidiaryGrameenphone is the largest provider of mobile telecommunication services in Bangladesh.At the end of 2008, Grameenphone held 47% of the total market share.



Grameenphone description:

Grameenphone in Bangladesh was established in 1997 and is partly owned by Telenor. In addition to core voice services, Grameenphone offers a number of value-added services on both a contract and prepaid basis. Grameenphone is the largest of in total six mobile operators in Bangladesh.As at 31 March 2009, Telenor holds 62% of the shares in Grameenphone, while the remaining 38% of the shares are held by Grameen Telecom. In addition to core voice services, Grameenphone offers a number of value-added services, in each case on both a contract and prepaid basis. Value-added services include voice messaging services, SMS, MMS, ringback tones and data services through EDGE GPRS. Grameenphone’s services have some of the most advanced and up to date features in the Bangladeshi market. For example, Grameenphone was the first Bangladeshi mobile operator to launch WAP in 2001 and EDGE service in 2005. In 2006, Grameenphone introduced HealthLine, a 24 hour medical call centre manned by licensed physicians, and BillPay, which allows utility bill payments to be made by mobile phone. Grameenphone has also introduced CellBazaar, a service that allows people to buy or sell items over mobile phone. Grameenphone has established more than 550 Community Information Centres which aim to bring affordable Internet .access and other information based services to people in rural areas of Bangladesh. In early 2009 Grameenphone introduced branded plug and play USB Internet access modems. Grameenphone won the GSMA Global Mobile Award for Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development for its HealthLine and CellBazaar services.
As at 31 March 2009, Grameenphone had 21.1 million subscriptions. As at 31 March 2009 the mobile penetration and number of inhabitants in Bangladesh were 30% and 150 million, respectively.On 11 December 2008, Grameenphone filed its application for an initial public offering of USD 65 million with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Bangladesh.


Grameen and Nokia:

The Grameen Foundation employs some of the most innovative poverty reduction and economic development tools around microfinance, biomass based village micropower and Village Phones, which enable rural communities to maintain access to regional and national markets, information and most important of all family members. Grameen Phone has been wildly successful in Bangladesh, where it started and now serves as the nation's top phone company, as well as in Uganda and Rwanda.

Yesterday, the Grameen Foundation and Nokia announced a partnership to expand the Village Phone network in Africa.With tiny loans, financial services and mobile technology, Village Phone provides affordable access in a sustainable manner.The collaboration between Nokia and GFUSA is designed to accelerate efforts to make universal access, particularly in rural areas of Africa a reality. As part of this effort, Nokia and GFUSA have jointly developed a solution based on Nokia's most affordable phones and an external antenna to serve rural communities in Uganda and Rwanda, the two countries where GFUSA's Village Phone currently operates.

As far as I can tell, this is more of an expansion and acceleration of the Village Phone project than a new venture, but so far, there's little more information available than in the press release which is identical on both the Grameen and Nokia sites.The final part of the press release promises that Nokia and Grameen will work together on a large scale study of the socioeconomic impact of mobile phones on global development, as well as on the sustainability of microfinance a good sign that both organizations are starting to think through the longer-term implications of their decisions.


CRS at Grameenphone:

At Grameenphone, we live by the statement Development is a journey, not a destination. Our work is not just about ensuring connectivity; it is about connecting with people and building relationships, based on trust, with our subscribers, business partners, employees, shareholders, as well as the wider community. We have always believed that good development is good business. While we maintain our business focus, taking the nation forward remains our top priority. Thus our relationship with Bangladesh is built on a partnership which strives to achieve common economic and social goals.

Corporate social responsibility, as we see it, is a ‘complementary' combination of ethical and responsible corporate behavior, as well as a commitment towards generating greater good for the society by addressing the development needs of the country.
Our core strategy in this area is to be Bangladesh's partner in developing the country, particularly in its promise, as a United Nations Millennium Declaration signatory, to meet the eight targets known as the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We have consolidated our social investment initiatives in four core areas related to the Millennium Development Goals namely,

* Poverty alleviation,
* Healthcare,
* Empowerment
* Education.

We are witness to the endless possibilities and the strength of the people of Bangladesh. We believe every step matters in the journey of hope we are taking together as a nation. With every connection we provide and with every opportunity we create in the community at large, we see the emergence of new possibilities. The Village Phone ladies lead us towards a silent yet powerful social revolution. The indomitable spirit of acid survivors inspires us, while the confidence of intellectually challenged athletes shows us how to make the word impossible obsolete.

Every step inspires us to move forward and takes us one step closer to our destination. Every step counts.