Bangladesh plans to launch satellite

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=115761

Bangladesh plans to launch satellite
Negotiates with leading countries for tech support

Sajjadur Rahman

Bangladesh plans to launch its own communications satellite within a year, Post and Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Ahmed Raju said yesterday.

The cost of the programme will be between $150 million and $200 million, he said.

The minister disclosed the government plan to reporters during a media briefing.

“We’ve already started talking to different countries including the US, Japan and China, to help us launch our own satellite,” the minister told The Daily Star over the phone.

The satellite would serve commercial purposes including improving telecom services, helping to meet the booming demand for it. Telecom operators could subscribe to satellite services on a commercial basis, the minister added.

Television broadcasting, and meteorological data including disaster warnings would be available easily by the satellite. It might also be used for mapping natural resources, and to predict weather to help farmers, experts said.

“We are very serious. We hope to give the people the good news soon,” said Raju.

He said the government is discussing the technical aspects with the US, Japan and China that have vast experience in the field. Some other countries are also showing interest, he added.

After assessing the proposals of interested countries, the government will pick the one that is most favourable for Bangladesh, the telecom minister said.

“Financing by the interested country will be an important criterion for awarding the contract,” he said.

Experts have welcomed the venture saying that satellite technology would provide quality and faster telecom services to the people, and reduce the risks associated with natural calamities.

“A satellite of our own can benefit us a lot, including better weather forecasting and survey of mineral resources,” said Satya Prasad Majumder, a professor of electrical engineering and electronics at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Currently, Bangladesh subscribes to information about its mineral resources from the US, he said.

Majumder said a satellite could also help control mass communication traffic, such as television and radio broadcasting.

“You don’t need a cable TV network if you have satellite services,” the Buet professor also an expert on communication technology told The Daily Star.

Syed Margub Morshed, former chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said a satellite can give a country uninterrupted communication services.

“If the fibre optic cable is snapped, services will remain undisturbed through VSAT for the satellite,” he said.

There are several thousand satellites in space, launched by more than 50 countries. Bangladesh’s neighbours India and Pakistan launched their own satellites in 1980 and 1990 respectively.

Big relief for proponents of WiMax internet

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=85308

Big relief for proponents of WiMax internet
FE Report

AB Bank Limited has joined hands with nine other leading financial institutions- both public and private in syndication, to finance Banglalion Communications-one of the two upcoming WiMax ventures in the country.

Under the arrangement, a total of Tk. 1.91 billion in debt would be raised through this syndication for the Tk. 3.7 billion Bangla Lion WiMax project at 60:40 debt:equity ratio, the authorities informed.

A fund raising ceremony was held in this regard at a city hotel Monday. Top officials from the participating banks and Bangla Lion were present on the occasion.

Apart from the lead arranger AB Bank Limited, other participating banks in this syndication are Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited, Agrani Bank Limited, Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited, Mercantile Bank Limited, United Commercial Bank Limited, Standard Bank Limited and Saudi Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Limited (SABINCO).

The move came as a big relief for Bangla Lion as well as the proponents of WiMax Internet in the country, as there has been widespread speculation about the market potential of this big budget hi tech venture in Bangladeshi context.

Bangla Lion’s sole competitor in the local market Augure has already gone for full scale operation under the label Qubee and Bangla Lion, after its trial launching earlier this month, is now expected to follow them very soon.

“This syndication is a perfect example of public private partnership in the banking sector as both public and private financial institutions have joined hands in financing a project which would ceate platform for high speed internet penetration in Bangladesh”, said Kaiser A Chowdhury, President and Managing Director of AB Bank Limited on the occasion.

“We have been pondering on the market potential of this Bangla Lion project for almost a year as the technical issues concerning this advanced technology is quite complicated”, he added.

Explaining the high potential of WiMax technology in Bangladesh, Chairman of Bangla Lion Communications Abdul Mannan said, “With much higher speed and better range of utilities, WiMax is a step forward from its rival 3G and this is the technology of the next 10 years”.

Managing Director of Sonali Bank Limited S A Chowdhury, Managing Director of Janata Bank Limited S M Aminur Rahman, Managing Director and CEO of Agrani Bank Limited Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed, Executive Director of IDCOL Islam Sharif, Managing Director of Standard Bank Limited S A Farooqui, Managing Director of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited Md. Farhad Hossain, Managing Director of SABINCO Quazi Shairul Hassan and other top top officials from the participating banks were also present on the occasion.

Grameen to introduce cheap IP Phone

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/23/news0286.htm

Grameen to introduce cheap IP Phone
Staff Reporter

The country’s people, who are connected with Internet, can call others without charge from next month.

Grameen CyberNet Limited (GCL), a local Internet Service Provider (ISP), will launch the Internet Protocol (IP) Phone services’ delivery to the people immediately.

Golam Mohiuddin, Managing Director of GCL, at a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) in the city yesterday said their own engineers developed ‘IP Phone Software’ by using totally local technology, for which they will be able to provide the services at the lowest cost.

The Internet connected people have to buy an IP phone for getting the service. GCL is selling IP phones by Tk 7,000.

GCL will charge Tk zero at call from an IP Phone connection to another IP Phone while below 10 paisa will be charged from IP Phone to other operators like mobile and call to foreign countries must be charged lower than the present rate, he said.

Those, who have already any telephone, can also be connect with IP Phone through an IP adaptor that can be bought by Tk 1,500.

The users can send voice mail to other persons if they are not available during calling and the mail can be checked later in mobile even Internet.

Different services including call waiting, teleconferencing across the world and call forwarding will be available at the GCL IP Phone. Those who are consumers of other ISP companies also can enjoy IP Phone services of GCL.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) approved IP Phone license for GCL on August 18 this year.

Bangla may be used in net domain name

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Bangla may be used in net domain name
Staff Correspondent

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has agreed in principle to include Bangla as one of the languages to be used in top-level domain name, said a parliamentary committee yesterday.

“When I recently met Icann CEO Rod Beckstrom in Egypt he agreed in principle to include Bangla as one of the languages to be used for top-level domain names,” Hasanul Haq Inu, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on telecommunications ministry, told The Daily Star after a meeting of the committee.

Inu said he asked Beckstrom why Bangla, which is spoken by about 40 crore people, will not be included for using in domain names while Russian and Arabic scripts are going to be incorporated in the domain name system.

“Beckstrom finally agreed in principle and advised me to apply formally from government level,” said Inu.

“The parliamentary standing committee today asked the ministry concerned to apply to Icann to this end and inform Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about it,” he added.

Inu expressed hope that Bangla will be one of the top-level domain name languages by the next International Mother Language Day.

Icann is a non-profit organisation that was created on September 18, 1998, in order to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks including assigning Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and managing generic and country code top-level domain name system.

The parliamentary standing committee meeting asked the telecommunications ministry to declare about 29 acres of land of Telephone and Shipa Sangstha as telecom and electronic machinery production zone.

It also asked the ministry not to apply the government purchase policy to purchase of machineries or equipment for the organisation.

“We have also set a timetable for Telephone and Shilpa Sangstha to turn the losing venture into a profitable one,” Inu said.

Bangla Lion launches WiMAX

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/18/news0944.htm

Bangla Lion launches WiMAX
Dhaka, bdnews24.com

Bangla Lion Communi cations launched experimental WiMAX operations on Thursday.

The Dhaka-based Bangla Lion is only the second operator in the country to introduce WiMAX this after Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh, majority owned by UK-based Augere Holdings, earlier this month.

Chairman of Bangla Lion Abdul Mannan inaugurated the high-speed wireless internet service by teleconference from Gulshan. Bangla Lion WiMAX branded vehicles toured the city though the day, exhibiting the service at several spots.

The company says it is hopeful of reaching customers in the capital in a very short time with competitive rates.

Bangla Lion obtained a BTCL license to operate WiMAX, or Broadband Wireless Access, in September 2008. It has launched its operation after 14 months, failing to meet the original 6-month deadline.

Three companies won licenses at a BTCL auction on Sept 25 2008, paying Tk 215 crore each. The third company Brac Bdmail Network Ltd later pulled out.

BTCL offers free connections

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BTCL offers free connections
Star Business Report

Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Company Ltd (BTCL) yesterday announced that it would offer free connections to customers at some growth centres and upazilas.

Customers under these areas can link up with the state landline service within the next three months on a first-come-first-serve basis, said a statement.

Earlier, the operator charged Tk 600 per connection. BTCL will consider the areas outside district level as growth centres.

Japan KDDI enters Bangladesh market

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/15/busi.html#2

Japan KDDI enters Bangladesh market
Takes over 50pc stakes in BracNet
Kazi Azizul Islam

Japanese telecom giant KDDI has forayed into Bangladesh market acquiring 50 per cent stakes of BracNet, a leading local ISP-internet service provider.

Sources in the trade diplomacy have confirmed the deal which has been regarded as a high value Japan-Bangladesh technology joint venture after the NTT Docomo’s taking over of Aktel stakes from Telekom Malaysia.

‘The KDDI-BracNet deal has already been done,’ the country head of the Japan External Trade Organisation Tomhiro Kinomoto told New Age Saturday.

He said the value of the deal was not disclosed by any one of the parties.

Earlier, in a brief statement in Tokyo Thursday, KDDI Corporation said it would acquire a 50 per cent stake in BRAC BD Mail Networks Limited of Bangladesh through a third-party allotment of new shares.

In Japan, KDDI operates the second largest mobile phone network under the brand name, AU and the fastest and large capacity internet connections branded “HIKARI-one”

KDDI, which has businesses in the USA and elsewhere, has partnership projects with the internet search giant Google.

According to Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Tokyo Electric Power Corporation, Kyocera Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation have 8 to 13 per cent stakes each in the $50 billion plus KDDI.

Established in 1953, KDDI has operated international direct dialing services, mobile phone networks and board band internet services. KDDI also operates mobile banking services jointly with Bank of Tokyo.

According to the Japanese trade official, KDDI found potential future of business in Bangladesh due to its huge population and significant growths in telecom and internet service markets.

Entrance of KDDI in Bangladesh would give a further boost to the burgeoning telecom and ICT sector in Bangladesh, Kinomoto hoped.

Seeking anonymity, a senior management official of BracNet said partnership with KDDI will enhance their company’s financial and technical strengths for further expansion of existing services and bringing new services and devices in Bangladesh’s ICT market.

BracNet, which is a sister concern of BRAC, has now more than 500 corporate clients and it provides data connectivity services and ICT solutions to different banks and organisations.

BanglaLion launches WiMax roadshow

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BanglaLion launches WiMax roadshow
Star Business Report

BanglaLion Commu-nication, a WiMax licensee, yesterday launched a roadshow to make people aware of the high-speed internet.

Under the programme, a WiMax-equipped vehicle will demonstrate different services of WiMax to people in Dhaka.

BanglaLion officials said the company is preparing to introduce WiMax commercially by December. The company has already set up networks in 15 locations in the capital.

The three bidders — BanglaLion Communication, BRAC BD Mail Network Ltd and Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd — won the licences at an auction organised by the telecom regulator in September last year. Later, Brac left the race.

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless digital communication system that can provide broadband wireless access across 30 miles for fixed phones, and 3-10 miles for mobile stations.

Abdul Mannan, chairman of BanglaLion, inaugurated the roadshow, while Khaled Shams, chief executive office, and Abdul Mannan, chief technical officer, were present at the programme.

“We are committed to providing the high-speed internet at affordable prices,” Mannan said.

BTSS to produce low-cost phone-mobile sets, laptops

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/09/news0007.htm

BTSS to produce low-cost phone-mobile sets, laptops

Rafiqul Islam Azad

The government has decided to produce low-cost land phone and mobile phone sets, laptop and different telephone tools and machinery in the country.

Under the imitative, Bangladesh Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (BTSS) has already floated an international tender to procure necessary technology and equipment from abroad, according to sources in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.

The state-run company would be the first in Bangladesh to manufacture and market cellular phones early next year and in the process reduce dependence on import in the fast growing telecom sector, a well placed official source said. He said the BTSS mobile phone was expected to be available in the market by February next.

“The price range of the hand-sets will be between Tk 1,500 and Tk 10,000, depending on their options and features,” said the official.

According to the official a tender in this regard has been floated on November 1 and tender documents will be scrutinised on November 15, the source said.

With the implementation of the project, huge foreign exchange will be saved and employment opportunity will be created, he said.

The BTSS would be able to produce modern land phone and mobile phone sets, laptop and different telephone accessories adding more technologies and equipment with the existing one as “There is trained manpower and necessary infrastructure with the BTSS,” the official said.

Earlier, following a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Hasanul Haque Inu, chairman of the committee told journalists that the government is also planning to produce low-cost laptop at the BTSS factory in Tongi.

He said the government would try to reduce technological discrimination by providing tele-equipment to the people at affordable prices in line with the government’s Vision 2021 for Digital Bangladesh.

The production of the BTSS was stopped following change over of Ershad government due to mismanagements, lack of planning, indecision and corruption. Earlier, it produced different telecommunication machinery including telephone set, EMD switching, DP, pole, cabinet and joint materials.

Record shows that since establishment the BTSS supplied about 3,00,000 EMD switching, 5,00,000 telephone sets, 655 trunk exchanges, 403 analogue PABX, 7 digital exchanges, installed mobile exchange for important institutions in public and private sectors.

8,500 ‘post e-centres’ to digitalise postal services

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/07/news0851.htm

8,500 ‘post e-centres’ to digitalise postal services

BSS, Dhaka

The government has undertaken a five-year plan to set up ‘post e-centre’ 8,000 rural post offices and 500 upazilas of the country for bringing the postal department under the digital network.

AKM Rafiqul Alam, acting Director General (Postal Services) of Bangladesh Post Office, told BSS reporter Kamaluddin Ahmed that a project styled ‘Post-e-Centre for Rural Community’ involving Taka 522 crore would be implemented from the next year.

The main purpose of the project is to reach the IT-based postal services to the doorsteps of the rural people, he said.

Rafiqul Alam said the rural people would get numerous services, including internet browsing, remittance transfer, conversation with neighbours through webcam, publication of all academic results, filling up application forms for admission to colleges and universities, and gathering information about agriculture, education and health, through the project.

Besides infusing dynamism into the country’s postal services, the acting DG said the process is underway to sign agreements with 40 private commercial banks and insurance companies for providing the people with banking services, including passport processing, remittance collection, introduction of postal cash cards and insurance premium collection through the IT.

“The Postal Department also inked a deal with the Western Union, an international fast track money transferring organisation, for transferring funds from any part of the world to the country within 10 minutes,” he said.

Rafiqul Alam said their department has taken an innovative plan to provide each postman with SIM cards of mobile phones so that they can communicate with subscribers from anywhere and rush there.

Customers will now be able to recharge their accounts from postmen. Revenue earns from it will be shared by postmen, government and mobile phone companies, he said.

Currently, he said the Postal Department is handling around six lakh letters, including two lakh of Bangladesh Open University (BOU), every month.

The department earned Taka 175 crore during the first four months of this fiscal, which is Taka 22 crore more than that of the previous fiscal, sources said.

As part of the digitisation, the sources said the Postal Department is also implementing a three-year project spending Taka 32 crore. The project designed for automation of postal activities will be implemented in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna divisions.

Sixty-seven post offices and 13 railway mail services will be brought under the automation. It would have powerful software with an option of the online tracking system where anyone can track down letters through a simple log on, said an IT expert of the department.

Banglalink launches business info service

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Banglalink launches business info service
Star Business Desk

Banglalink has launched a call centre-based service to access business related information, said a statement.

Banglalink along with Katalyst, a project under Ministry of Commerce, launched the service styled “Babsha Jigyasha 7677” at a ceremony on Monday in Dhaka.

Banglalink customers can avail of the service seven days a week, 24 hours a day by dialling 7677.

Dr Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, was present in the ceremony as chief guest along with Ahmed Abou Doma, chief executive officer of Banglalink.

Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, secretary of Economic Relations Division in the Ministry of Finance, and Feroz Ahmed, secretary of Ministry of Commerce, were present.

Representatives of SSL and Nirjhor IT, the service partners for “Babsha Jigyasha”, were also present.

Grameenphone launches E-krishok tool for CIC

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=148433

Grameenphone launches E-krishok tool for CIC
ECONOMIC REPORTER

Grameenphone Ltd. has launched an E-Krishok tool for the Community Information Centers (CIC).

E-Krishok is web based tool from where farmers can get the specific information on the soil, climate and fertilizer requirements for land of a specific area.

It is hoped that this tool will help to keep the farmers updated with modern agricultural technology, which in turn will help in increase agricultural production.

The tool was launched at Protappur CIC in Gazipur last week. Odd-Egil Aasen, director, Internet Services, Commercial Division; A H M Sultanur Reza, AGM, Fixed Broadband Internet, of Grameenphone Ltd; Shahroj Jalil, Group Director, Services Group, Katalyst and Shahid Akbar, CEO, Bangladesh Institute of ICT were present on the occasion, says a press release.

The nearby Haat (weekly market) of the CIC was also profiled with CIC promotional materials.

This profiling will help the local community to understand the services available at the CIC and how they can benefit from the services.

A Grameenphone Community Information Center is a shared premise where rural people may access a wide-range of state of art services such as Internet, and other web-based information services.

Grameenphone Community Information Centers are equipped with the minimum of a computer, a printer, a scanner, a webcam and an EDGE-enabled modem, to access the Internet using Grameenphone’s nation-wide EDGE connectivity.

Alternative submarine cable route proposed

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Alternative submarine cable route proposed
PMO urged to consider Mongla-Chennai route
Staff Correspondent

The telecommunications ministry recently has urged the Prime Minister’s Office to consider Mongla-Chennai route for connecting Bangladesh with an alternative submarine cable line.

The alternative undersea cable line from Mongla, Khulna to Chennai in India has been given preference as international submarine cable consortiums are available on the route.

“The proposed undersea cable line will connect Bangladesh with other parts of the world using the government’s own fund,” Sunil Kanti Bose, secretary of the ministry, told The Daily Star over phone yesterday.

He, however, said the donors may finance for this alternative submarine cable line.

The secretary said the private sector initiative would also be considered along with the government initiative.

“We also prefer the Mongla-Chennai route as it is more secured than other undersea cable routes,” he said.

At present, three international submarine cable consortiums are available in the sea in Chennai of India.

The government earlier has taken initiative to connect Bangladesh with an alternative submarine cable to relieve the internet users from repeated disruptions, the secretary said.

The country was linked to a submarine cable in 2006 at a cost of $35.1 million. The SMW-4 cable has a capacity to handle a 120 Gb bandwidth, of which Bangladesh currently subscribes to 24.12 Gb.

The country uses 23 percent of its capacity domestically. Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd handles the lone submarine cable. The existing cable landed through Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka.

The demand for an alternative submarine cable has been raised by the internet based entrepreneurs in last few years. The government also had a plan to bring another submarine cable through private sector initiative.

As many as 60 lakh people are now using internet in Bangladesh. The internet penetration rate is 4 percent.

Augere launches first WiMax for Dhaka

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Augere launches first WiMax for Dhaka

Jerry Mobbs, chief executive officer of Augere, speaks at the launch of the company's wireless broadband service in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: Masthead PR

Star Business Report

Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd yesterday launched the much-waited wireless broadband service through WiMax in some designated areas in Dhaka.

Augere, one of the two WiMax licensees, is the first company in Bangladesh to launch such service under the brand name ‘Qubee’.

Augere is initially offering two packages. Customer will have to pay Tk 3,400 a month for the Qubee 512 kbps package. The monthly charge for the Qubee 1 Mb has been fixed at Tk 6,200, while the modem price for both the packages is Tk 7,000.

Initially, the Qubee service is available for businesses and residential customers in Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Mirpur and Uttara. Qubee will be available across Bangladesh soon.

WiMax is a technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access. The technology supports peak download rates of up to 46 Mbps and peak uplink rates of up to 14 Mbps.

Jerry Mobbs, chief executive officer of Augere Bangladesh, Russell T Ahmed, chief marketing officer, were present at the launching ceremony.

“We can offer low priced packages, but our goal is to ensure quality first,” said Ahmed. “We believe our services will satisfy our customers.”

Augere also unveiled a Qubee Flagship Store at Gulshan to provide 24-hour customer services.

Three bidders — BanglaLion Communication, BRAC BD Mail Network Ltd and Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd — won the WiMax licences through an auction organised by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in September last year. However, BRAC later refused to take the licence.

UK-based Augere Holdings owns 60 percent of Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Ltd along with two local companies. Teleport Bangladesh owns 30 percent and Aamra Resources Ltd owns the remaining 10 percent.

Int’l big names enrich local call centres’ client list

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/18/81855.html

Int’l big names enrich local call centres’ client list

Jasim Uddin Haroon

The local call centres see a bright prospect for their business as they have already roped in a number of big names from abraod as their clients.

Major companies in developed and developing countries use call centres to interact with their customers and offer different services like healthline to them.

Bell Canada, a telecommunication company, Microsoft, OneBill which is the largest telecom service provider for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom, the NKL and SKL responsible for conducting the state-level lottery in Germany, and the Continental Telecommunication of the UK are among the big names.

They are at this moment using the call centres for outbound telecommunication services, financial services and surveys.

“They are just a few of the internationally-reputed companies. We’ve more than 100 such customers using our services,” said Ahmadul Hoq, president of Bangladesh Call Centre Forum (BCCF).

The BCCF chief said the local call centres were offering their services at comparatively lower prices than in the Phillipines, India and Sri Lanka.

Utility companies, banking institutions, non-government organisations, shopping malls and telecom companies are the major clients of the call centres.

A total of 41 call centres have so far been set up in the country over the last one year involving a total investment worth around Tk 300 million.

The call centres have employed more than 15,000 youths, most of them graduates. The average wages of the call centre employees are over Tk 15,000 a month.

Mr Hoq said the banks, financial institutions and telcommunications service providers operating in Bangladesh were turning to them because of their cheaper and faster services.

However, the number of domestic clients of the call centres is around 10.

Dr Sikder M Zakir, managing director of the Telemedicine Reference Centre Limited, who pioneered in providing health and medicine-related customer services on mobile phone, said he would also introduce services for diabetic patients next month.