Tele Communication Systems

Role of  Tele Communication Systems in Bangaldesh

 The liberalization of Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector began with small steps in 1989 with the issuance of a license 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

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. And after then On April 12, 2012 the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission awarded licenses for twenty one Interconnection Exchanges (ICX), twenty two International Gateways (IGw), and thirty International Internet Gateway (IIG)Here is the list of all operators.

MOBILE PHONE

Mobile phone has become an indispensable part of Bangladesh's everyday-life and has made a "safe haven" in one of our pockets much like our wallet that we never want to leave at home while we head for our work! Thanks to the telecom-revolution and its relentless evolution that together have made it possible even in developing countries like Bangladesh. This is the dominant device that we now express ourselves through, get our work done and share our pains and pleasures with.

Mobile phone operators covered Bangladesh include: Banglalink/Sheba (Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E), GrameenPhone (Telenor & Grameen Telecom Corporation,), Robi/Aktel (Axiata Group Berhad & NTT DoCoMo INC), Citycell (Singtel, Pacific Group and Far East Telecom), Warid (Bharti Airtel & Warid Telecom International), and Teletalk (BTCL).

                                                   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.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): As of 2005 more than 180 Internet Service Providers are operating in the country. 10. 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 [11]. 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 Internet 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.WiMax 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 withITU. 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. Bangladesh will send her first ever satellite Bangabandhu-1into space in 2015.

Submarine Cables

Bangladesh is connected to SEA-ME-WEB 4 or South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 4. The landing site of the Bangladesh branch is located at Cox's Bazaar. Bangladesh is also a member of the proposed SEA-ME-WE-5, which will provide another submarine cable connectivity for the country when its submarine cable is implemented within a couple of years. The company, BSCCL is the only submarine cable operator in Bangladesh.