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 Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB), the previous monopoly provider of telecommunications services within Bangladesh. 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 has subsequently grown exponentially in the past five years. The incentives both from the government and public sectors have helped the industry grow and it is now one of the biggest industries in Bangladesh. As a populous country, its huge market has attracted many foreign investors.

Telecommunication

The telecom sector in Bangladesh is rapidly emerging.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিযোগাযোগ নিয়ন্ত্রণ কমিশন) is an independent commission founded under the Bangladesh Telecommunic ...

(BTRC) is the regulatory authority for this sector, overseeing licensing, policy, etc. The calling code of Bangladesh is +880. There are also several SubCodes.

History

Landmarks in the history of the telecom industry in Bangladesh: * 1853: Telegraph branch under Posts and Telegraph Department, British India. * 1971: Reconstructed as Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Department under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. * 1975: Reconstructed as Telegraph and Telephone Board. * 1979: Reconstructed as Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) with the right to issue licenses for telecom and wireless services. * 1981: Digital Telex Exchange in Bangladesh. * 1983: Automatic Digital ITX started in Dhaka. * 1985: Coinbox Telephone service was introduced in Bangladesh by BTTB. * 1989: GENTEX Telegraph messaging service introduced in Bangladesh. * 1989: Bangladesh Rural Telecom Authority got a license to operate exchanges in 200 Upazila. * 1989: Sheba Telecom got license to operate exchange in 199 Upazila. * 1989: Cellular mobile phone company Pacific Bangladesh Telephone Limited and Bangladesh Telecom got license. * 1995: Card Telephone service introduced in Bangladesh by BTTB and TSS. * 1995: Regulatory power of BTTB transferred to Ministry (MoPT). * 1995: 2nd and 3rd ITX installed in Dhaka.fuad * 1996:

GrameenPhone Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, with 83.02 million subscribers (as of January 2022). It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation. Tel ...

got cellular mobile Telephone license. * 1996: Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh got cellular mobile license. * 1998: Telecom Policy. * 2000: Global Telecom Service (GTS) Telex Exchange venture with British Teleco. * 2001: Telecommunication Act, to establish

(BTRC). * 2002: ICT Policy. * 2004: Teletalk (BTTB bMobile) cellular mobile launched. * 2005: Egypt-based

Orascom Orascom Construction PLC (OC) is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor based in Cairo, Egypt. The company was Egypt's first multinational corporation and stands at the core of the Orascom Group companies. OC is active in m ...

acquired Sheba Telecom * 2006: NGN introduced in BTTB. * 2008: BTTB converted into Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) with 100% shares owned by Government. The Submarine Cable Project transformed into Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited ( BSCCL) * 2008: Japanese NTT DoCoMo bought 30 percent stake in Aktel * 2009:

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...

acquired 70 percent stake in

Warid Telecom Warid Telecom International ( ar, وارد تليكوم الدولية) was an Emirati telecommunications company which was active in Bangladesh, Georgia, Congo, Pakistan, and Uganda before its divestment. Pakistan In 2004, Warid Telecom Inter ...

* 2009: Internet Protocol Telephony Service Provider (IPTSP) Operators launched. * 2010: Aktel rebranded to Robi Axiata Limited * 2012: 3G mobile service is introduced by state owned

Teletalk Teletalk Bangladesh Limited DBA Teletalk ( bn, টেলিটক) is the only state-owned GSM, 3G, LTE, 5G based mobile phone operator in Bangladesh that started operating in 2004. As in August 2021, Teletalk has a subscriber base of 6.27 ...

in October. * 2013: 3G auction held for private companies * 2014: 64 districts covered with 3G by

Grameenphone Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, with 83.02 million subscribers (as of January 2022). It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation. Tel ...

Banglalink Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd., d.b.a. Banglalink ( bn, বাংলালিংক; previously Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd.) is a Bangladeshi telecommunications company headquartered in Dhaka. It's the third-largest mobile networ ...

and Robi * 2016: Robi and Airtel were merged on 16 November 2016 and Robi set sail as the merged company. * 2018: 4G auction held for private companies * 2018: on 19 February 4G mobile service is introduced * 2021: on 12 December 5G mobile service is introduced by

TeleTalk Teletalk Bangladesh Limited DBA Teletalk ( bn, টেলিটক) is the only state-owned GSM, 3G, LTE, 5G based mobile phone operator in Bangladesh that started operating in 2004. As in August 2021, Teletalk has a subscriber base of 6.27 ...

* 2022: on 17 March Unlimited Validity Data service is introduced by

* 2022: On 31 March 5G auction held for all Telecom companies

Structure

As defined in the National Telecommunications Policy 1998 and International Long-Distance Telecommunications Services (ILDTS) Policy 2007, all mobile operators are to interconnect through Interconnection Exchange (ICX) and all international calls to be handled by International Gateway (IGW) which is to be connected to the mobile and fixed operators through the ICXs. The Interconnection Exchange (ICX) will receive all calls from the mobile and fixed operators whenever the call is made to another network and will pass it to the destination network if the call is local ,and will pass to the IGWs if the call is international. ICX will also deliver calls received from IGWs where the call is destined. Below illustrate the structure of interconnection between different interfaces.

Service providers

Public switched telephone network

The number of public switched telephone network (PSTN) subscribers in Bangladesh as of February 2009 was 1.372 million. PSTN operators in Bangladesh include: * Banglaphone Ltd. * BTCL * Integrated Services Limited (ISL) – branded under the name Sheba Phone * Jalalabad Telecom Ltd. – branded under the name Bijoy Phone *

Onetel Communication Ltd. Onetel is a Bangladeshi fixed line operator. It is a public switched telephone network operator in Bangladesh. As of May 2008, total number of subscribers was 37.796 thousand. History Onetel has obtained license from Bangladesh Telecommunication ...

* Ranks Telecom Ltd. * S.A Telecom System Ltd. * Westec Ltd. *

WorldTel WorldTel Limited was established in January 1995 as part of an International Telecommunication Union initiative to help mobilize development of the telecommunications sector in developing countries. The primary catalyst for its creation was a McKi ...

* Lenova.com.bd * Dhaka Telephone Co. Ltd. – ''Currently off the air, License canceled by BTRC'' * National Telecom Ltd. – ''Currently off the air, License canceled by BTRC'' * Peoples Telecommunication and Information Services Ltd. – ''Currently off the air, License canceled by BTRC'' * Tele Barta Ltd. – branded under the name Jubok phone – ''Currently off air''

Mobile phone operators

There are four mobile phone operators in Bangladesh, operating under the names of

, Robi and

. The number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh as of April 2015 was 124.705 million, having risen from the February 2009 figure of 45.21 million. As of September, 2022 the number of mobile phone subscriber has risen to 181.43 Million

Long distance operators (as per ILDTS Policy 2007)

On 25 February 2008 the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission awarded licenses for two Interconnection Exchanges (ICX), three International Gateways (IGm), 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 12 April 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:

=International Gateway (IGW) operators

= # Tech Panacea # Mir Telecom LTD # 1Asia Alliance Gateway # Bangladesh International Gateway # Bangla Tel Ltd # Bangla Trac Communications # Bestec Telecom # BG Tel # BTCL # Cel Telecom # DBL Telecom # DigiCon Telecommunications # First Communications # Global Voice Telecom # HRC Technologies # Hub Tel # LR Telecom Ltd. # Lenova.xyz # Kay Telecommunications # Mos5 Tel # Platinum Communications Ltd # RanksTel # Ratul Telecom # Roots Communication # Sigma Engineers # SM Communication # SongBird Telecom (formerly Hamid Sourcing) # SVM Telecom LP #

Telex The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of sending written messages electroni ...

# Unitrac Communications # Vision Tel # Venus Telecom LTD # Carrier Voice UK LTD

=Interconnection Exchange (ICX) operators

=
M & H Telecom LTD
# Jibondhara Solutions Ltd. # Summit ICX # BTCL # Bangla ICX Ltd. # Agni ICX # Apex Communication Pvt Ltd # Carnival # CloudTel # GAZI Networks Ltd # GETCO ICX # Imam Network Ltd. # Jibondhara ICX # Ring Tech Communications Limited # MicroTrade ICX # Mother Telecom # New Generation Telecom Ltd # Paradise ICX # Purple Telecom Limited # Crossworld Telecom Ltd. # SR Telecom # Sheba # Softex # Tele Exchange Ltd. # Teleplus Network Ltd # Verterx Telecom # Voicetel Ltd. # Bantel Limited. # Sengupta Telecom

=International Internet Gateway (IIG) operator

= # Aamra Companies # 1Asia Alliance Communication #

Abir Telecommunication Gulal or abir ( bn, আবীর) or abhir ( or, ଅଭୀର) is the traditional name given to the coloured powders used for the typical Hindu rituals, in particular for the Holi festival or Dol Purnima (though commonly associated with the r ...

# Apple Communication # Bangla Phone Ltd # bdHUB # BD Link Communication Ltd # BSCCL # BTCL # Cybergate # Delta Infocom # Earth Telecommunication # Equitel Communications # Fiber @ Home # Global Fair Communications # Greenland Technologies # Intraglobe Communications # Level3 Carrier # ADN International Gateway Limited. Formerly Managewell Communication Ltd # Mango Teleservices # MaxNet Online # NovoCom # PeerEx Networks Limited # REGO Communications # CiTYCOM NETWORK #Summit Communications Limited

=Internet Protocol Telephony Service Provider (IPTSP) operators

= On 18 August 2009, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission commenced awarding licenses for IPTSP. IPTSP operators are regulated by the BTRC. Current IPTSP operators in Bangladesh are: * Nationwide: # MetroNet Bangladesh Ltd. # Icon Infotech Ltd. (prefix-09644) # Amber IT Ltd. # Telnet Communication Ltd. # Link3 Technologies Ltd. (prefix-09678) # BDCOM Online Ltd. # Access Telecom (BD) Ltd. # ADN Telecom Ltd. (formerly Advanced Data Network Systems Ltd) # Agni Systems Ltd. # Rightsoft Systems. # Akceycom Ltd. # Akij Online Ltd. # Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. # Bangladesh Internet Exchange Ltd. # BEXIMCO AND SQUARE # BRACNet Ltd. # Broad Band Telecom Services Ltd. # BTS Communications (BD) Ltd., branded as UbernetBD # Carnival Internet # Communication One (Pvt.) Ltd. # Connect BD Ltd. # Cyber Net Communications # dhakaCom Ltd. # Digital Connectivity Ltd. # ERGO Ventures Ltd. # Global Access Ltd. # HRC Technologies Ltd. # Idea Networks And Communications Ltd. # IDS Bangladesh # Information Services Network Ltd. # Innovative Online Ltd. # InterCloud Ltd. # IS PROS Ltd. # MaxNet Online # Manor IT Ltd. # Link3 Technologies Ltd. (prefix-09678) # Nreach Net (Pvt.) Ltd. # Pritty International (Pvt) Ltd. # Ranks ITT Ltd. # Royal Green Online Ltd. # X-Net Ltd. # TeleBangla Communications Ltd. # RED Data (Pvt) Ltd. # Triangle Services LTD # Premium Connectivity Limited * Central: # Fusion Net # Grameen Cybernet Ltd. # IT Connect Ltd. # J F Optical Services # M/s. Media & Multimedia # Next Online Ltd. (Nextfone) # SADIATEC Ltd. # Sine-10 (BD) Ltd. * Zonal: # Chittagong Online Ltd. # Chittagong Telecom Services Ltd. # First n Fast IT Ltd. # HN TELECOM

=International Terrestrial Cable (ITC) operator

= # 1Asia Alliance Communication # BD Link Communication Ltd # Fiber @ Home # Mango Teleservices # NovoCom # Summit Communications

Radio

Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 12, shortwave 2, community radio 1, internet radios Radios: 6.15 million (1997) The government-owned Betar-Radio Bangladesh operates from Dhaka and other local districts. Currently, private FM radio channels are very popular. They are trying to attract young people by broadcasting music and news. The operating private radio channels include: * dhakaFM 90.4 FM * Radio Amber 102.4 FM *

Radio Today Radio Today is a 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh that started airing in May 2006. It is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমি ...

89.6 FM *

Radio Foorti Radio Foorti is a Bangladeshi FM radio station. The station went live on 22 September 2006, and is currently available in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet. Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Mymensingh, Cox's Bazar, Bogura, Noakhali and Kushtia. It ha ...

88.0 FM * Radio Amar 88.4 FM * ABC Radio 89.2 FM *

Peoples Radio Peoples Radio is a Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as ...

91.6 FM

Television

As of 2012, there are 23 broadcast television stations in Bangladesh, including the state-run BTV and BTV World, with 20 million television sets in the country. The number of private satellite channels are growing. The first private channel in Bangladesh was

ATN Bangla ATN Bangla ( bn, এটিএন বাংলা), 'ATN' being the acronym of the unused Asian Television Network, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Multimedia Production Company. It is based in th ...

. There are 8 full-fledged news channels ( ATN News, Channel 24, DBC News, Ekattor, Independent Television,

Jamuna Television Jamuna Television ( bn, যমুনা টেলিভিশন; ), commonly known as Jamuna TV, stylized as jamuna, tv, is a privately owned Bangladeshi satellite and cable news and current affairs television channel. It is owned by the Jamuna ...

, News24 and

Somoy TV Somoy Television () is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable 24-hour Bengali television channel, headquartered at 89, Bir Uttam CR Dutta Road, Banglamotor, Dhaka. It has a broadcast NOC license from the government of the People's Rep ...

Internet

The first connectivity in Bangladesh with the internet was in 1996. In the past few years, growth has been rapid. The government's high internet tariff is impeding the growth of this sector, claims Norwegian-owned Telenor. Recently the government has decided to reduce the tariff by 50%. The internet country code of Bangladesh is

.bd .bd is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Bangladesh. It is administered by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology. Registrations are at the third level beneath several second-level labels, par ...

. As of 2005 more than 180 Internet Service Providers are operating in the country. ISP's are regulated by the

(BTRC). The number of internet users in Bangladesh as of March 2009 is over 600,000, compared to 100,000 in 2000. However, only 0.3% of the population use the internet, thus making Bangladesh the lowest usage percentage per population of the internet in the world with the exception of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. In April 2010 Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president of the 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 a shared basis," he said, adding the number of internet users in the country is increasing yearly by around 15-16 percent. A 2009 study by the Boston Consulting Group found that the number of Internet subscribers in Bangladesh is likely to reach 18.3 million by the year 2020, equivalent to a 32 percent household Internet penetration, which will result in a 2.6 percent contribution to the country's GDP while creating 129,000 more jobs, the research added.

Broadband Internet access

Though broadband internet access is available, the cost of high-speed connection is higher than in other south Asian countries. Broadband internet and e-commerce in Bangladesh is progressing slowly.

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The 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 with

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

standards. The

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s currently providing broadband services in Bangladesh are: * Banglalion * Infocom Limited *

InfoLink InfoLink Limited is a nationwide Bangladeshi internet service provider (ISP), tracking service provider, call center, IPTV service provider and IT company working in the field of broadband internet, internet access, connectivity, software develop ...

International

There are 6 satellite Earth stations. Talimabad, Betbunia are two of them. Some info shows that the number is now 7. Bangladesh has sent its first ever satellite

Bangabandhu-1 The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 (''Bangabandhu-1'') is the first Bangladeshi geostationary communications and broadcasting satellite. It is named after the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was manufactured by Thales Aleni ...

into space in May 11, 2018.

Submarine cables

Bangladesh is connected to SEA-ME-WE 4 or SMW-4 (South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 4) and SEA-ME-WE 5 submarine cable systems. The landing site of the SMW-4 Bangladesh branch is located in Cox's Bazaar and the landing site of the SMW-5 Bangladesh branch is located in

Kuakata Kuakata ( bn, কুয়াকাটা) ( Burmese/ Rakhine/ Arakanese:ကုအာကာတ) is a town in southern Bangladesh known for its panoramic sea beach. Kuakata beach is a sandy expanse long and wide. From the beach one can have an ...

. The two submarine cables provide the country with redundancy to support uninterrupted internet and long-distance communications and also with a huge bandwidth.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) is a fiber optic submarine cable telecommunications company and telecommunications service provider (IIG and ISP) based in Bangladesh. Emerging in July 2008 BSCCL presently handles Bangladesh's ...

is the only submarine cable operator in Bangladesh.

References

External links

Media and Telecommunications Lansdcape Guide in Bangladesh

'infoasaid'
guide, May 2012, 135 pp. {{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Bangladesh