Diffusion of Private Networks (e.g. WAN)
Telephone Lines There were 3 Telephone main lines per 1,000 people (644 in U.S.), with $634 revenue per line ($1,280 U.S.), costing customers about 4 cents for 3 minutes (9 cents U.S.), in 1997(2). The average subscriber spends 81 outgoing minutes (134 U.S.), with undetermined price per minute in 1997(2). In 1999, there were over 4 million telephone subscribers (100 mil population) (1).
Page Index | Site IndexAccording to the World Development Bank, there were 0 Internet hosts per 10,000 people in 1998 (compared to 975.94 in U.S.) (2). An Internet connectivity map, provided by An Atlas of Cyber Space, it shows that Bangladesh does have internet access. Upon further investigation, there seems to be no backbone network: no cable pipes or other high speed services in Bangladesh (4). However, the government seems to be implementing some infrastructure that will change the current telecommunication system. With financial assistance from several sources, a bridge was constructed, and opened to traffic in June 1998. This multipurpose bridge has provisions for railway as well as modern telecommunication cables (5).
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According to the World Fact Book, there were 0 mobile phones, fax machines, and personal computers per 1,000 people in 1997. However, the cellular age was in its infancy. As one can see from the table below, it was in that year when Bangladesh's cellular telephone companies first became active (6):
Cellular companies in Bangladesh Network
TypeNetwork
StatusHandset Code Network
CodeTM Int'l (Bangladesh) Ltd GSM 900 Live August 1997 n/a n/a Sheba Telecom (PVT) Ltd--Mobile 2000 GSM 900 Live September 1998 M2K 470 19 GrameenPhone Ltd GSM 900 Live April 1997 BGD GP 470 01
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Communications Satellites and Submarine Cables A small Honolulu-based telecom and international satellite Internet services provider (SISP) called USAT, is offering high speed satellite Internet services, branded as SkyTiger.net, to businesses throughout Asia. The company is now uplinking high speed SkyTiger.net IP data services to all the Asian countries. They are currently operating links Bangladesh and Vietnam. Where permitted, USAT is deploying 2-way asymmetric very small aperture terminals (VSAT) called Satellite Network Access Points or SNAPs (8).
Submarine cables and communications satellites provide the vital infrastructure that wires the world together. A map from KDD Submarine Cable Systems Inc. shows the submarine cable infrastructure in the Asian region in 1996. KDD is a major telecommunications company and its submarine cable division is one of the leading contractors laying and maintaining cables around the world. Although there are no cables going into Bangladesh, there are three satellites, visible in this map (3).
Page Index | Site IndexWide Area Networking Telecom networks in Bangladesh are being modernized. Data Networks (LAN, MAN, WAN - Local, Metropolitan, Wide Area Network) are emerging. Digital switches capable of services such as ISDN are being installed all over the country. Various public/private organizations have or are in the process of installing LAN in their branches, scattered throughout the country. When private providers modern infrastructure becomes fully operational, organizations will be able to interconnect their sites. Various organizations are in need of such interconnectivity. Very low bandwidth connections are being provided now. But the infrastructure that is being laid down, will enable ISPs to provide high bandwidth connectivity as demand grows. Some ISPs have been assigned Spread Spectrum radio frequency band in the range of 2GHz for point to point wireless communication between computers (7).
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Telekom Malaysia
Telekom Malaysia provides telecommunications services to 4.2 million subscribers in the country and operates telephony services in Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The company's operations include TelCo, its core telecommunications business, and Telekom Multimedia, which develops Internet-related new media businesses. As a partner in Malaysia's Industrial Master Plan, Telekom Malaysia fuels the growth of the country's information superhighway, and its extensive R&D infrastructure will continue to secure Malaysia's standing as a Bangladesh's telecommunications center (1).
Bengal Telecommunication & Electric Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd (BTTB) BTTB, the governmentally run telecommunications company, is now offering internet connectivity at lower rates than that being offered by independent ISPs, BTTB however is also the regulator and the provider of such services (9).
GrameenPhone is one of the largest cellular providers, with over 50,000 mobile telephone subscribers as of the last week of September 1999. GrameenPhone has active roaming agreements with network operators in the following countries: Denmark, Hong Kong, India, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and United Kingdom. They provide voice and data services, including:GrameenPhone Limited
Call Forward - Unconditional, On Busy, No Reply, Not Reachable, Unrestricted
Call Waiting, Call Hold, Completion of Calls to Busy Subscribers
Multi Party Calling, Closed User Group (CUG)
CLIP, CLIR, COLP, COLR, DTMF Signaling
Operator Controlled Barring, Operator Determined Barring,
Barring International Calls, Barring All Calls, Barring Incoming Calls
Barring International Calls Except to HNC
Attach/Detach (Plus Timer), Unstructured Supplemental Service Data
