Banglalink awards charging system upgrade to Ericsson (Bangladesh, Sweden)
Banglalink, one of Bangladesh’s leading mobile phone operators, today announced that it has entered into a five-year agreement with Ericsson to upgrade its charging system, including IN expansion, consulting and systems integration services, as well as support. The upgraded charging system will enable Banglalink to offer subscribers new and innovative value-added services.
Thanks to Ericsson’s consulting and systems integration services, Banglalink’s upgraded solution will feature geographical redundancy, meaning that it will remain functional in the event of any natural disasters or network outages. To date, more than 90 percent of Bangladesh’s mobile subscribers belong to the prepaid segment.
Mohammed Osman, Acting CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Banglalink, said that this is why they wanted to get a powerful unified, consolidated and standard solution that provides them with a competitive edge in prepaid services. This upgrade will also make it easier for them to adopt a convergent prepaid and postpaid billing system in the future. More importantly, it gives them the ability to quickly launch new value-added products and services.
By integrating the Ericsson OSS Navigator with the Ericsson Charging System, Banglalink will benefit from more effective network monitoring and improved service-aware network management. It will also have access to a combination of business and network data that will provide a holistic overview of end users and network efficiency. As a result, Banglalink will be able to develop innovative subscriber plans based on end-user behaviors and network capabilities.
Per-Henrik Nielsen, President of Ericsson Bangladesh, said that they are pleased to provide Banglalink with a robust charging system that will help bring more innovative services to its subscribers. They are also confident that this upgrade to the charging system will strengthen Banglalink’s relationships with its customers.
BTRC announces national 3G mobile licence auction in June 2012 (Bangladesh)
The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reportedly announced a national 3G UMTS mobile licence auction to be held in June 2012. According to reports, Zia Ahmed, Head of BTRC has said that they have shortlisted the Indian wing of UK-based PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL) and US-based Nera Economic Consulting, as consultants for conducting the auction. He added that 3G licence bids would be accepted from both domestic as well as overseas bidders. Further, in the event that that a new entrant would win a 3G concession, the BTRC would also consider its application for a 2G licence.
As per sources, the state-owned mobile operator Teletalk will be allowed to launch its 3G services based on the W-CDMA/HSPA network technology on 26 March 2012 for an exclusive period of six months ending in September 2012. However, reports reveal that while Teletalk will not be required to compete in the June auction, it will need to pay a cost for the commercial spectrum which would be equal to the highest bid. The mobile operators expected to bid in the auction include GrameenPhone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtel.
Further, reports suggest that Teletalk has said that it will have an initial capacity for 1.7 million users which it aims to increase significantly to around three million users by March 2012. Mujibur Rahman, Managing Director, Teletalk, is hopeful that that the six-month 3G exclusivity period will help generate interest amongst the users, increasing their subscriber base, as the operators participating in the 3G auction in June will not be permitted to launch their services before September.
BTRC to audit mobile operators (Bangladesh)
The Bangladesh telecommunications regulator, BTRC is planning to audit mobile operators and has already appointed two firms for the project.
As per BTRC official, the first two operators to be scrutinized by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) are Grameenphone and Banglalink.
The move comes as the operators, along with Roby and Citycell, have to renew their licences this year. According to Grameenphone’s Chief Corporate Officer, the company has no problems with the audit as it complies with the laws. Zakiul Islam, director of Banglalink, also welcomed the regulator’s move.
Bangladesh ends February with 71.5 mn mobile subscribers
The new figures from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) have revealed that the total number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh grew to 71.51 million in February from 70.34 million in January.
Mobile operator GrameenPhone led the market with 31.14 million customers, up from 30.43 million a month earlier. Banglalink (Orascom Telecom Bangladesh) followed with 20.18 million customers, an increase from 20.04 million, while Robi (Axiata Bangladesh) ended February with 12.81 million customers, which grew from 12.63 million a month earlier.
Airtel Bangladesh saw its customer base grow to 4.37 million from 4.18 million, while Citycell’s (PBTL) subscriber base grew to 1.79 million from 1.86 million in the prior month. Teletalk’s subscriber base rose to 1.22 million from to 1.20 million in January.
Bangladesh plans network license renewal
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has submitted its draft plan for the renewal of the mobile operating licenses for the country’s four largest mobile networks, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell. The networks current licenses are going to expire in November 2011.
However, according to sources, the BTRC did not consult with the mobile operators during preparation of the draft policy, though the ministry stated that it would finalize the policy after discussing with operators.
Bangladeshi operators join VOIP detection system
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A system to automatically detect illegal international call terminations via VoIP has been joined by four Bangladesh operators, namely, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Warid Telecom, and Citycell.
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) premises carry the system and detect mobile numbers that are used for illegal call termination.
Out of the 60 million minutes of international calls that are made to and from Bangladesh per day, 30 percent account for illegal VoIP calls. Only illegal calls generated through a ‘SIM box’ can be detected by the system while illegal VoIP operators can also use E1 lines.
Banglalink launches mobile remittance services
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile remittance services have been launched by Bangladeshi mobile operator Banglalink along with two banks, Eastern Bank and Dhake Bank. The three companies will together provide mobile wallet service.
Initially, nineteen Banglalink outlets in Dhaka will offer the mobile remittance service and in the later stage, will be expanded to 100 outlets after about a month.
It is expected that in three months, the service will be available through 2,222 Banglalink ‘cash points’. BDT 150 per transaction will be paid by the banks to Banglalink but it is also expected that the service will boost remittance cash flow.
Warid & Citycell ink infrastructure sharing deal (Bangladesh)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An infrastructure sharing agreement has been signed between Bangladeshi mobile operators Warid and Citycell. Base stations, towers, poles, transmitter equipment, bandwidth and power will be shared between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom, or Citycell and Warid under the terms of the agreements.
A similar infrastructure sharing deal was inked between Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi (formerly Aktel) earlier this year.
An infrastructure sharing guideline issued by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in September 2008 are taken into consideration by the operator while signing the deal.
Bangladesh to hold beauty contest to award 3G license
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The 3G licenses in Bangladesh will be awarded via a qualitative ‘beauty contest’ procedure rather than a straightforward monetary auction.
The announcement has been made by Bangladesh’s telecom minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju who made it clear that the state did not want to repeat mistakes made in the country’s WiMAX auctions, where license prices were pushed up too high.
According to Ahmed Abou Doma,CEO of the country’s second largest cellco by subscribers, Banglalink, the company welcome the telecom minister’s comment on arranging a beauty contest to award the 3G license, rather than monetary bidding ensuring fastest and widest 3G coverage along with the highest service levels and quality for the customers.
However, concerns have been raised by market leader GrameenPhone regarding the potential for non-transparency when using selection methods other than a highest bidder auction.
