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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday inaugurated the 3G mobile communications services and said her government was moving to ensure a divide-free digital Bangladesh for all its citizens.
Hasina inaugurated state-run mobile-phone operator Teletalk's third generation mobile telephony at a glittering formal ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Teletalk will distribute 400,000 3G-enabled SIMs for capital Dhaka initially. The newly launched service is being tagged 'experimental' as the policies regarding it are yet to be finalised.
"We have moved a lot ahead in reaching our goal of ensuring free flow of information for the people's empowerment," Hasina said at the programme.
Hasina unfurled the new commercial service with a video call to President Mohammad Zillur Rahman first and later she talked to the students of Azimpur Girls Schools, where she had studied in her childhood.
She said Bangladesh reached the level of the 'advanced countries' through the inauguration of the technology. "It's a new milestone in the telecom sector of the country."
The third generation means it comes after GPRS and EDGE. The advantages of 3G services include faster data connectivity which means one can download faster and web surfing will be a lot more fun.
It will give uninterrupted video streaming on phones, enable video calls and big MMS and be good for data intensive applications.
The programme was told that the new technology will ease high speed exchange of information and enable individuals to hold video conferences at distant places and help traffic police avoid the unwanted jam by observing movement of vehicles.
Along with helping distance learning, it will also open up a vast array of entertainment options too. Both mobile sets of the caller and receiver have to support 3G SIM cards if they wish to have avail themselves of service.
The video calls, which will have a 10-second pulse, will cost Tk 2 per minute with a Teletalk SIM card.
Also, users will be able to see television channels –state-run BTV, GTV, RTV, Somoy TV and MyTV.
The sale of 3G SIMs was supposed to begin from Sunday. But TeleTalk authorities will be sure about the identities of the subscribers before approving the SIM use. They will start contacting those who have registered at the 'Gravity Club' in the last few months.
The SIMs will be available at TeleTalk's eight customer care centres and 3,000 retailers in the capital. The service will also be launched in Chittagong within this year.
Post and Telecommunications Secretary Sunil Kanti Bose said policies were being finalised so that the service can be launched across the country. "Private operators will also be given licence for this."
Prime Minister's son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, an information technology expert, was also present at the function.
He said: "Many had questioned how developed technologies will reach the rural areas when this government had begun its Digital Bangladesh programme. We didn't want digital divide."
Sajeeb also mentioned that the government had introduced Union Information Centre in its first year. "Our major problem was infrastructures. Only information service is not enough. The connectivity is poor here. All kinds of connectivity are USB modem based. That's why introducing 3G was far more important."
He said other private telecom operators would get licences through auction 'within several months' after finalisation of the 3G guidelines.
He and his mother also thanked the Chinese government for providing technical support to TeleTalk to launch the 3G service.
The Prime Minister also hoped that the new technology would help the IT industry and services to flourish and ensure massive use of IT in all sectors including education, research, industry, agriculture and services.
She said currently 100 million people are using mobile phones in Bangladesh and nearly 25 percent of the total population access Internet.
Presided over by Post and Telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun, the function was attended by Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jun as a special guest.
The government on May 3 last year had approved a Tk 19 billion project to introduce the 3G service. Of the total funding, Bangladesh government provided Tk 4.24 billion and Exim Bank of China Tk 14.77 billion.
- The Latest News @2012
Hasina inaugurated state-run mobile-phone operator Teletalk's third generation mobile telephony at a glittering formal ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Teletalk will distribute 400,000 3G-enabled SIMs for capital Dhaka initially. The newly launched service is being tagged 'experimental' as the policies regarding it are yet to be finalised.
"We have moved a lot ahead in reaching our goal of ensuring free flow of information for the people's empowerment," Hasina said at the programme.
Hasina unfurled the new commercial service with a video call to President Mohammad Zillur Rahman first and later she talked to the students of Azimpur Girls Schools, where she had studied in her childhood.
She said Bangladesh reached the level of the 'advanced countries' through the inauguration of the technology. "It's a new milestone in the telecom sector of the country."
The third generation means it comes after GPRS and EDGE. The advantages of 3G services include faster data connectivity which means one can download faster and web surfing will be a lot more fun.
It will give uninterrupted video streaming on phones, enable video calls and big MMS and be good for data intensive applications.
The programme was told that the new technology will ease high speed exchange of information and enable individuals to hold video conferences at distant places and help traffic police avoid the unwanted jam by observing movement of vehicles.
Along with helping distance learning, it will also open up a vast array of entertainment options too. Both mobile sets of the caller and receiver have to support 3G SIM cards if they wish to have avail themselves of service.
The video calls, which will have a 10-second pulse, will cost Tk 2 per minute with a Teletalk SIM card.
Also, users will be able to see television channels –state-run BTV, GTV, RTV, Somoy TV and MyTV.
The sale of 3G SIMs was supposed to begin from Sunday. But TeleTalk authorities will be sure about the identities of the subscribers before approving the SIM use. They will start contacting those who have registered at the 'Gravity Club' in the last few months.
The SIMs will be available at TeleTalk's eight customer care centres and 3,000 retailers in the capital. The service will also be launched in Chittagong within this year.
Post and Telecommunications Secretary Sunil Kanti Bose said policies were being finalised so that the service can be launched across the country. "Private operators will also be given licence for this."
Prime Minister's son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, an information technology expert, was also present at the function.
He said: "Many had questioned how developed technologies will reach the rural areas when this government had begun its Digital Bangladesh programme. We didn't want digital divide."
Sajeeb also mentioned that the government had introduced Union Information Centre in its first year. "Our major problem was infrastructures. Only information service is not enough. The connectivity is poor here. All kinds of connectivity are USB modem based. That's why introducing 3G was far more important."
He said other private telecom operators would get licences through auction 'within several months' after finalisation of the 3G guidelines.
He and his mother also thanked the Chinese government for providing technical support to TeleTalk to launch the 3G service.
The Prime Minister also hoped that the new technology would help the IT industry and services to flourish and ensure massive use of IT in all sectors including education, research, industry, agriculture and services.
She said currently 100 million people are using mobile phones in Bangladesh and nearly 25 percent of the total population access Internet.
Presided over by Post and Telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun, the function was attended by Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jun as a special guest.
The government on May 3 last year had approved a Tk 19 billion project to introduce the 3G service. Of the total funding, Bangladesh government provided Tk 4.24 billion and Exim Bank of China Tk 14.77 billion.
- The Latest News @2012