'Country has high potentiality of cell-phone internet'
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Grameenphone (GP) Commercial Division CMO Stein Naevdal has observed that Bangladesh has a high potentiality of cell phone internet service as the country still lacks proper infrastructure for wide-spread internet service, reports UNB.
"Due to lack of infrastructure, the mobile phone internet will be popular in the country," he told a group of journalists at a city hotel Monday.
He also said, about 2.5 million (25 lakh) GP users, out of 14 million, have already subscribed the EDGE package of GP, and are enjoying the internet facility in their cell phones.
But he denied disclosing the bandwidth of the GP EDGE, saying, "It is our internal matter".
Replying to a query about the legal complexities of providing internet facilities like the ISP, Naevdal said GP has the necessary licences for all such commercial activities.
About the sublease of the optical fibre-link of the Bangladesh Railway, presently used by GP, he said, "We are authorised to sublease it." GP CMO also said mobile banking also has a good future in the country.
Describing GP's various pro-people activities, he mentioned the example of the GP Health-line programme, and said, everyday more than 3,000 people from across the country make calls at the centre for obtaining health tips. "Of them, 75 per cent are from rural areas, and a good number of them are village doctors. They usually call the Health-line to recheck the medicine that they have suggested for their patients."
About the allegation against the cell-phone companies involved in illegal VoIP business, he said, "There is no connection between GP and VoIP, and there was no such connection previously."
"Due to lack of infrastructure, the mobile phone internet will be popular in the country," he told a group of journalists at a city hotel Monday.
He also said, about 2.5 million (25 lakh) GP users, out of 14 million, have already subscribed the EDGE package of GP, and are enjoying the internet facility in their cell phones.
But he denied disclosing the bandwidth of the GP EDGE, saying, "It is our internal matter".
Replying to a query about the legal complexities of providing internet facilities like the ISP, Naevdal said GP has the necessary licences for all such commercial activities.
About the sublease of the optical fibre-link of the Bangladesh Railway, presently used by GP, he said, "We are authorised to sublease it." GP CMO also said mobile banking also has a good future in the country.
Describing GP's various pro-people activities, he mentioned the example of the GP Health-line programme, and said, everyday more than 3,000 people from across the country make calls at the centre for obtaining health tips. "Of them, 75 per cent are from rural areas, and a good number of them are village doctors. They usually call the Health-line to recheck the medicine that they have suggested for their patients."
About the allegation against the cell-phone companies involved in illegal VoIP business, he said, "There is no connection between GP and VoIP, and there was no such connection previously."