Bangladesh finally ushers in 4G era
FE Report | Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Bangladesh has entered the era of 4th generation (4G) broadband cellular technology.
The government formally handed over 4G licences to four mobile operators of the country through a function in the capital on Monday.
Immediately after the handing over of the licences, top three mobile operators - Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi - started to offer 4G network service in various parts of the country, including different parts of the capital.
"This is a historic moment in the digitisation of Bangladesh," said Post, Telecommunication and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar in the ceremony.
"Mobile phone technology will be the key medium of digital transformation in the country."
Noting that some mobile operators are charging each customer Tk 110 fee for replacement of their current SIMs with 4G SIMs, the telecom minister termed it 'illogical'.
"I would request the mobile operators not to charge extra fee for such SIM replacement for 4G," Mr Jabbar added.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Shahjahan Mahmood said overall quality of mobile service should make uplift along with the launching of 4G.
"Recently, we have also offered additional spectrum and tech neutrality to the operators. So, we can hope that the number of call drops will also come down in the near future," he added.
Telecom Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder, CEO of Grameenphone Michael Foley, CEO of Banglalink Erik Aas, CEO of Robi Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Managing Director of Teletalk Kazi Md. Golam Quddus, and Secretary General of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh T I M Nurul Kabir also spoke on the occasion.
However, Bangladesh is one of the last countries in South Asia to launch 4G cellular service.