Mobile phone operator Robi launched the ‘3.5G’ service network at two of its outlets in
Dhaka and Chittagong on Saturday.
Grameenphone is also set for a test launch of the 3G service in the city’s Bashundhara area today. Robi simultaneously launched its 3.5G network in Chittagong and Dhaka at two separate programmes.
Although 3.5G services will not yet be commercially available to Robi subscribers until October, customers may visit the Robi walk-in centres at Muradpur in Chittagong, and at Gulshan in Dhaka, to experience firsthand the 3.5G network over pre-configured 3G-enabled handsets and tablets, said the company officials.
Robi chief technology officer AKM Morshed said the 3.5G network at the launch was limited, but the area would be expanded over quick phases to test 3.5G network efficacy before the commercial launch of the services.
‘3G services mark the beginning of the next phase of Bangladesh’s telecom growth story and will elevate the telecom sector at par with most advanced telecom markets in the world,’ Robi chief executive officer Michael Kuehner said on the occasion.
Post and telecommunications minister Shahara Khatun launched the network in Dhaka at Robi’s Gulshan office.
Robi officials said the company’s 3.5G roll-out plan was much shorter than the regulatory roll-out obligation.
The company expects to cover at least 40 per cent of its customer base and 60 per cent of its data users by the end of 2013.
GP officials, meanwhile, said the company would today test launch the 3G service at Bashundhara where the head office of the company is located.
Minister Shahara Khatun and Fredrik Baksaas, chief executive officer of Telenor, the parent company of GP, will be present on the occasion.
The GP will launch commercial 3G service in October.
-With New Age input
