Communications in Bangladesh
Encyclopedia
The liberalisation of Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector began with small steps in 1989 with the issuance of a licence to a private operator for the provision of inter alia cellular mobile services to compete with the previous monopoly provider of telecommunications services the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
(BTTB). Significant changes in the number of fixed and mobile services deployed in Bangladesh occurred in the late 1990s and the number of services in operation have subsequently grown exponentially in the past five years.
The incentives both from government and public sectors have helped to grow this sector.It is now one of the biggest sector of Bangladesh. As a populous country, it's huge market has attracted many foreign investors to invest in this sector
(BTRC) is the regulatory authority for this sector, overseeing licensing, policy etc.
Calling Code: +880 – SubCodes
HISTORY=
Landmarks in the history of telecom industry in Bangladesh
The Interconnection Exchange (ICX) will receive all calls from the mobile and fixed operators whenever the call is made to other network and will pass it to the destination network if the call is local, and will pass to the IGWs if the call is international. ICX will also deliver calls received from IGWs where the call is destined.
Below illustrate the structure of interconnection between different interfaces.
The number of PSTN subscribers in Bangladesh as of February 2009 was 1.372 million.
1. Grameenphone Ltd.: Branded as Grameenphone
2. Axiata Bangladesh Ltd: Branded as Robi
3. Sheba Telecom Ltd.: Branded as Banglalink
4. Pacific Bangladesh Telephone Ltd.: Branded as Citycell
5. Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd.: Branded as Teletalk
6. Airtel Bangla Ltd. Branded as Airtel
The number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh as of February 2009 was 45.21 million., rising to 76.43 million at the end of June 2011.
1. Bangla Trac Communications Limited
2. Mir Telecom
3. Novotel Limited
4. BTCL
1. Getco Telcommunications Ltd.
2. M&H Teletcom Ltd.
3. BTCL
1. Mango Teleservices Limited
2. BTCL
The IPTSP operators in Bangladesh are:
1. HRC Technologies Limited (GETCO Online Ltd.)
2. Eirtel Bangladesh Limited.
3. Information Services Network Limited
4. Agni Systems Ltd.
5. Innovative Online Limited
6. Dhakacom Limited
7. Connect BD Ltd.
8. Digital Connectivity Limited
9. BTS Communications (BD) Ltd
10. Royal Green Online Limited
11. Global Access Limited
12. Access Telecom (BD) Ltd.
13. Ranks ITT Ltd.
14. BDCOM Online Ltd.
15. Broad Band Telecom Services Limited
16. Link 3 Technologies Ltd
17. BRACNet Limited
18. Metronet Bangladesh Limited
19. Communication One (Pvt.) Limited
20. Telnet Communication Limited
21. X-Net Limited
22. Bangladesh Internet Exchange Limited
23. Nreach Net (Pvt.) Limited
24. Advanced Data Networks System Limited
25. Akij Online Limited
26. Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited
27. IDS Bangladesh
28. IS PROS LIMITED
29. Idea Networks And Communications Ltd
30. Pritty International (Pvt) Limited
31. Akceycom Limited
1. Grameen Cybernet Limited
2. Fusion Net
3. M/s. Media & Multimedia
4. Next Online Limited
5. J F Optical Services
6. IT Connect Limited
7. Sine-10 (BD) Ltd.
8. SADIATEC Ltd
1. Chittagong Online Limited
2. Chittagong Telecom Services Limited
3. HN TELECOM
On August 18, 2009 the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission awarded licenses for IPTSP. IPTSP operators are regulated by the BTRC.
Radios: 6.15 million (1997)
The government owned Betar-Radio Bangladesh operates from Dhaka and other local districts. Currently, the private FM radio channels are very popular. They are trying to attract young people by broadcasting music and news. The operating private radio channels include:
Televisions: 770,000 (1997)
The number of private satellite channels is growing. The first private channel in Bangladesh was ATN Bangla
.
Internet country code: .bd
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): As of 2005 more than 180 Internet Service Providers are operating in the country. ISP's are regulated by the Bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission (BTRC).
Internet users:
The number of internet users in Bangladesh as of March 2009 is over 600,000
compared to 100,000 in 2000. However, only 0.3% of the population use the internet and thus making Bangladesh the lowest usage percentage per population of the internet in the world with the exception of North Korea, Myanmar
and Sierra Leone.
But on April, 2010 Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh, told Xinhua that the country's six cell phone operators and Interent Service Providers have so far provided over 800,000 internet connections. "We've estimated that nearly 10 million people in the country are using 800,000 internet connections on sharing basis," he said, adding the number of internet users in the country is increasing yearly by around 15–16 percent.
The number of Internet subscribers in Bangladesh is likely to reach 18.3 million by the year 2020– translating to a 32 percent household Internet penetration at around the same time”, says a study by an international research group.
“This increased internet penetration would resulted in 2.6 per cent contribution to the country’s GDP by 2020 while creating 129 thousand more jobs by the same year” the research added.
service is now available from some internet service providers. In Bangladesh Broadband is legally defined as 128/128 kbit/s, which is not in line with ITU
. Therefore most of the Broadband internet services and also subscribers are using bandwidth that may not be considered a broadband in other countries and may not be broadband in international standards .
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Department was created under the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 to run the telecommunication services on a commercial basis...
(BTTB). Significant changes in the number of fixed and mobile services deployed in Bangladesh occurred in the late 1990s and the number of services in operation have subsequently grown exponentially in the past five years.
The incentives both from government and public sectors have helped to grow this sector.It is now one of the biggest sector of Bangladesh. As a populous country, it's huge market has attracted many foreign investors to invest in this sector
Telecommunication
The telecom sector in Bangladesh is rapidly emerging. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory CommissionBangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is an independent commission founded under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001...
(BTRC) is the regulatory authority for this sector, overseeing licensing, policy etc.
Calling Code: +880 – SubCodes
Bangladesh Calling SubCodes
Country Code: +880International Call Prefix: 00Trunk Prefix: 0- Numbering plan :- Note about area codes :* Area Name : Calling Code.* When calling from outside, into BD, then do not use the leading "0" for the area code....
HISTORY=
Landmarks in the history of telecom industry in Bangladesh
- 1853 : Telegraph branch under Posts and Telegraph Department, British India.
- 1971 : Reconstructed as Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Department under Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
- 1975 : Reconstructed as Telegraph and Telephone Board.
- 1979 : Reconstructed as Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone BoardBangladesh Telegraph and Telephone BoardThe Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Department was created under the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 to run the telecommunication services on a commercial basis...
(BTTB) with right to issue license for telecom and wireless services. - 1981 : Digital Telex Exchange in Bangladesh.
- 1983 : Automatic Digital ITX started in Dhaka.
- 1985 : Coinbox Telephone service introduced in Bangladesh by BTTB.
- 1989 : GENTEX Telegraph messaging service introduced in Bangladesh.
- 1989 : Bangladesh Rural Telecom Authority got license to operate exchanges in 200 upazilla.
- 1989 : Sheba TelecomBanglalinkBanglalink , is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh after Grameenphone. As of November, 2009, Banglalink has a subscriber base of 12.99 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom....
got license to operate exchange is 199 upazilla. - 1989 : Cellular mobile phone company Pacific Bangladesh Telephone LimitedCitycellCitycell 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...
and Bangladesh Telecom got license. - 1995 : Card Telephone service introduced in Bangladesh by BTTB and TSS.
- 1995 : Regulatory power of BTTB transferred to Ministry (MoPT).
- 1995 : 2nd and 3rd ITX installed in Dhaka.
- 1996 : GrameenPhoneGrameenphoneGrameenphone , widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 32 million subscribers , Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country...
got cellular mobile Telephone license. - 1996 : Telecom Malaysia International BangladeshAktelRobi Axiata Limited, DBA Robi , is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan ....
got cellular mobile license. - 1998 : Telecom Policy.
- 2000 : Global Telecom Service (GTS) Telex Exchange venture with British Teleco.
- 2001 : Telecommunication Act, to establish Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory CommissionBangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory CommissionThe Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is an independent commission founded under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act, 2001...
(BTRC). - 2002 : ICT Policy.
- 2004 : TeletalkTeleTalkTeletalk Bangladesh Limited brand name "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...
cellular mobile launched. - 2005 : Egypt-based Orascom acquired Sheba Telecom
- 2006 : NGNNGNNGN can mean multiple things:* Next Generation Networking, broad term to describe some key architectural evolutions in telecommunication core and access networks that will be deployed over the next 5-10 years....
introduced in BTTB. - 2008 : BTTB converted into Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) with 100% shares owned by Government.
- 2008 : Japanese NTT DoCoMoNTT DoCoMois the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan. The name is officially an abbreviation of the phrase, "do communications over the mobile network", and is also from a compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
bought 30 percent stake in AktelAktelRobi Axiata Limited, DBA Robi , is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan .... - 2009 : Bharti AirtelBharti AirtelBharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation...
acquired 70 percent stake in Warid TelecomWarid TelecomWarid Telecom International is an Abu Dhabi based mobile telecommunication firm providing telephony services in Congo, Pakistan and Uganda. Warid is expected to launch in the Ivory Coast and Georgia soon.-Pakistan:... - 2009 : Internet Protocol Telephony Service Provider (IPTSP) Operators launched.
Structure
As defined in the National Telecommunications Policy 1998 and International Long Distance Telecommunications Services (ILDTS) Policy 2007, all mobile operators is to interconnect through Interconnection Exchange (ICX) and all international calls to be handled by International Gateway (IGW) which is to be connected to the mobile and fixed operators through the ICXs.The Interconnection Exchange (ICX) will receive all calls from the mobile and fixed operators whenever the call is made to other network and will pass it to the destination network if the call is local, and will pass to the IGWs if the call is international. ICX will also deliver calls received from IGWs where the call is destined.
Below illustrate the structure of interconnection between different interfaces.
PSTN
The PSTN or fixed operators in Bangladesh are:- BTCLBTCLBTCL or Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, formerly BTTB, began operations on July 1, 2008. The Bangladesh government initially owns all shares of BTCL but it would offload shares in the next one year for public. The value of BTCL is estimated to be at Tk 15,000 crore...
(former BTTB) - Peoples Telecommunication and Information Services Ltd.PeoplesTelPeoples Telecommunication & Information Services Ltd. ' is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator. It is a private public switched telephone network operator, ISP and Hosted Call Centre Service Provider in Bangladesh.- History :...
- Ranks Telecom Ltd.RanksTelRanksTel is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator.It is a private public switched telephone network operator in Bangladesh. As of December 2009, total number of subscriber of this operator is 274.895 thousand It is the second largest PSTN operator in Bangladesh. On March 19, 2010 RanksTel office...
– Currently off air - Tele Barta Ltd.TelebartaTelebarta is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator. It is a private public switched telephone network operator in Bangladesh. As of May 2008, total number of subscribers of this operator is 56,424...
– branded under the nameJubok phone - Jalalabad Telecom Ltd. – branded under the name Bijoy PhoneBijoy PhoneBijoy Phone is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator.It is a private public switched telephone network operator in Bangladesh. As of May 2008, total number of subscriber of this operator is 3.948 thousand.-History:...
- Onetel Communication Ltd.Onetel Communication Ltd.Onetel is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator.It is a private public switched telephone network operator in Bangladesh. As of May 2008, total number of subscriber of this operator is 37.796 thousand.-History:...
- National Telecom Ltd.
- Westec Ltd.
- Dhaka Telephone Co. Ltd.
- Integrated Services Limited (ISL) – branded under the name Sheba Phone
- S.A Telecom System Ltd.
- Banglaphone Ltd.
The number of PSTN subscribers in Bangladesh as of February 2009 was 1.372 million.
Mobile Phone Operators
There are 6 mobile phone operators in Bangladesh. These are:1. Grameenphone Ltd.: Branded as Grameenphone
Grameenphone
Grameenphone , widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 32 million subscribers , Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country...
2. Axiata Bangladesh Ltd: Branded as Robi
3. Sheba Telecom Ltd.: Branded as Banglalink
Banglalink
Banglalink , is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh after Grameenphone. As of November, 2009, Banglalink has a subscriber base of 12.99 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom....
4. Pacific Bangladesh Telephone Ltd.: Branded as Citycell
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...
5. Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd.: Branded as Teletalk
TeleTalk
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited brand name "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...
6. Airtel Bangla Ltd. Branded as Airtel
The number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh as of February 2009 was 45.21 million., rising to 76.43 million at the end of June 2011.
Long Distance Operators (as per ILDTS Policy 2007)
On February 25, 2008 the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission awarded licenses for two Interconnection Exchanges (ICX), three International Gateways (IGw), and one International Internet Gateway (IIG) to six firms through an open auction in February 2008. The incumbent BTTB got the same licenses too. Here is the list of all operators:International Gateway (IGW) Operators
1. Bangla Trac Communications Limited
2. Mir Telecom
3. Novotel Limited
4. BTCL
Interconnection Exchange (ICX) operators
1. Getco Telcommunications Ltd.
2. M&H Teletcom Ltd.
3. BTCL
International Internet Gateway (IIG) Operator
1. Mango Teleservices Limited
2. BTCL
Internet Protocol Telephony Service Provider (IPTSP) Operators
The IPTSP operators in Bangladesh are:
- Nationwide:
1. HRC Technologies Limited (GETCO Online Ltd.)
2. Eirtel Bangladesh Limited.
3. Information Services Network Limited
4. Agni Systems Ltd.
5. Innovative Online Limited
6. Dhakacom Limited
7. Connect BD Ltd.
8. Digital Connectivity Limited
9. BTS Communications (BD) Ltd
10. Royal Green Online Limited
11. Global Access Limited
12. Access Telecom (BD) Ltd.
13. Ranks ITT Ltd.
14. BDCOM Online Ltd.
15. Broad Band Telecom Services Limited
16. Link 3 Technologies Ltd
17. BRACNet Limited
18. Metronet Bangladesh Limited
19. Communication One (Pvt.) Limited
20. Telnet Communication Limited
21. X-Net Limited
22. Bangladesh Internet Exchange Limited
23. Nreach Net (Pvt.) Limited
24. Advanced Data Networks System Limited
25. Akij Online Limited
26. Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited
27. IDS Bangladesh
28. IS PROS LIMITED
29. Idea Networks And Communications Ltd
30. Pritty International (Pvt) Limited
31. Akceycom Limited
- Central:
1. Grameen Cybernet Limited
2. Fusion Net
3. M/s. Media & Multimedia
4. Next Online Limited
5. J F Optical Services
6. IT Connect Limited
7. Sine-10 (BD) Ltd.
8. SADIATEC Ltd
- Zonal:
1. Chittagong Online Limited
2. Chittagong Telecom Services Limited
3. HN TELECOM
On August 18, 2009 the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission awarded licenses for IPTSP. IPTSP operators are regulated by the BTRC.
Radio
Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 12, shortwave 2, community radio 1, internet radiosRadios: 6.15 million (1997)
The government owned Betar-Radio Bangladesh operates from Dhaka and other local districts. Currently, the private FM radio channels are very popular. They are trying to attract young people by broadcasting music and news. The operating private radio channels include:
- Radio TodayRadio TodayRadio Today is a radio station in Bangladesh. It started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka and Chittagong.-Info:It started as the country's first private FM radio station in May 2006 in Dhaka at 89.6 MHz. It later became available in Chittagong & Cox's Bazaar. Soon its going to...
FM - Radio FoortiRadio FoortiRadio Foorti is a Bangladeshi FM radio station. The station went live on September 21, 2006 and is currently available in DhakaChittagongSylhetRajshahiKhulnaBarisalMymensinghCox's Bazar-Info:...
FM - Radio AmarRadio AmarRadio Aamar is a 24-hours private FM radio station in Bangladesh. It broadcasts on 88.4FM in Dhaka. It started its official transmission in 11 December 2007...
FM - Radio MetrowaveRadio MetrowaveRadio Metrowave is a private radio station in Bangladesh. It went on air on 26 March 1999.This radio station operating on frequency 256.41 meter band or 1170 kHz in medium wave...
- ABC Radio
Television
Television broadcast stations: 16 (1999)Televisions: 770,000 (1997)
The number of private satellite channels is growing. The first private channel in Bangladesh was ATN Bangla
ATN Bangla
ATN Bangla is a Bengali language digital cable television channel. It transmits from its studio in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The channel is transmitted in South Asia, the Middle-east, Europe, and North America. The channel offers a wide variety of programming including news, movies, dramas, talk shows,...
.
Internet
The first connectivity of internet was only in 1996. Though It was somewhat late, over the past few years the growth is rapid. The government's high internet tariff is impeding the growth of this sector. Recently the government is decided to reduce the tariff 50%.Internet country code: .bd
.bd
.bd is the Internet country code top-level domain for Bangladesh. It is administered by the Ministry of Post & Telecommunications of Bangladesh...
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): As of 2005 more than 180 Internet Service Providers are operating in the country. ISP's are regulated by the Bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission (BTRC).
Internet users:
The number of internet users in Bangladesh as of March 2009 is over 600,000
compared to 100,000 in 2000. However, only 0.3% of the population use the internet and thus making Bangladesh the lowest usage percentage per population of the internet in the world with the exception of North Korea, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
and Sierra Leone.
But on April, 2010 Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh, told Xinhua that the country's six cell phone operators and Interent Service Providers have so far provided over 800,000 internet connections. "We've estimated that nearly 10 million people in the country are using 800,000 internet connections on sharing basis," he said, adding the number of internet users in the country is increasing yearly by around 15–16 percent.
The number of Internet subscribers in Bangladesh is likely to reach 18.3 million by the year 2020– translating to a 32 percent household Internet penetration at around the same time”, says a study by an international research group.
“This increased internet penetration would resulted in 2.6 per cent contribution to the country’s GDP by 2020 while creating 129 thousand more jobs by the same year” the research added.
Broadband Internet Access
Though broadband internet access is available it charges high for high speed connection than other south Asian countries, though this is rapidly changing. Broadband internet and e-commerce in Bangladesh is slowly progressing.WiMAXWiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...
service is now available from some internet service providers. In Bangladesh Broadband is legally defined as 128/128 kbit/s, which is not in line with ITU
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies...
. Therefore most of the Broadband internet services and also subscribers are using bandwidth that may not be considered a broadband in other countries and may not be broadband in international standards .
International
There are 6 satellite earth stations. Talimabad, Betbunia are two of them.Some info shows that the number is now 7.Submarine cables
SEA-ME-WE 4 or South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 4 . The landing site is Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.See also
- Doel (laptop)
- Media of BangladeshMedia of BangladeshThe media of Bangladesh refers to the print, broadcast and online mass media available in Bangladesh. The Constitution guarantees press freedom and freedom of expression within "reasonable restriction", though some media outlets have been harassed...
- Telecom System in BangladeshTelecom System in BangladeshThe Bangladesh telecommunications system contains several subsystems.-Telephone:A general assessment of the telephone system is that it is totally inadequate for a modern country.The domestic system is undergoing modernisation...
- List of Bangladeshi TV and radio Channels